Why did they erase the serial?

[Drago]

Hi.

I recently bought this Sempron 64 2600+ (SDA2600AIO2BX, Socket 754) for my collection. Why? Because the serial, data matrix code and parts of the date code have been erased.
Date code now only reads 062****W, only parts of the data matrix code are still visible, serial is completely gone.

Now, why would someone do that? The previous owner said he bought this CPU together with a mainboard in a bundle and it was that way when he bought it.

For a picture: 120532896490 on eBay.

From the looks of it, a laser has been used to do that, much in the same way whe part number is inscribed on the heatspreader. The edges are clean and square, it's just superficial, no deep engraving...
The heatspreader and PCB do not look normal (not as if someone had placed a different heatspreader on the board).

Looking forward to your reply.
Drago

P.S.: Before anyone asks why I bought a CPU that might be fake: it's for my collection. Andnd should it be fake: even better! XD

[Drago]

Oh, I made a mistake: The heatspreader and PCB do look normal.

The erasing is slightly off center, so it seems only the 4 letters after the date code were meant to be erased, that's also why parts of the data matrix code are still visible (bottom and right side)

[JAC]

Ok, glad it is resolved for you.

Why would it be better if it was fake?

Fakes/remarks/whatever have little or no value. This applies to most collectables I know of.

[Drago]

No no, the correction was just because I made a mistake when I wrote it.

The question still remains... Let's just assume it's not stolen (and the serial was removed because of that) - what reasons would there be to remove the serial? Are there known instances when AMD removed them themselves?

Why would a fake be better? Because it's something rare and should therefore be part of a collection

[JAC]