Fake Confederate Swords

[matthew mckeon]

Dear Friends,
I was just watching "Antiques Roadshow" and a guy brought in a CS saber he had bought for $100. The dealer got very excited, because the saber was a 79 dollar fake. He praised the guy was not paying more, since they are often sold for between 3 and 4 thousand dollars!

The dealer said the sword was a pretty good fake, but the stamped year and the letters "CS" of the forte of the blade were NOT done on actual CS swords.

Thought folks should know.

 

[ewc]

Thanks for the heads-up matthew. Antiques Roadshow- love that show! they always have such interesting stuff and there will also always be something each show related to the Civil War, Revolutionary War, or the Wild West.

 

[ole]

A hunnert bucks for a good fake is not a bad deal. Wish I could go back in time and pick up that 1864 U.S. saber for the $200 the guy was asking. But I suppose that could have been a fake, as well.
Ole

 

[tomh]

Fakes and Frauds

matthew,

I'm a collector (firearms, bullets and cartridges) and the issue of fakes and frauds has become a central theme in the collecting community. From artificially aged brass (plates and buckles) to parts guns (firearms assembled from the parts of several damaged weapons) fakes and frauds are now showing up even at the finest relic shows and on the tables and websites of some of the most prestigious dealers. In the last year I have personally seen:

1. Numerous artificially aged belt plates, as well as instructions on how to properly "age" a repro plate to make it appear real to all but the most trained appraisers.

2. A collection of more than a dozen CS beltplates, all fakes, and including two different two piece plate designs that were actually never manufactured during the 19th century.

3. Bannerman's guns being sold as genuine issued firearms and firearms so altered that the overall measurements have been reduced by sanding and polishing.

4. An entire collection of cartridges (about 20) labeled with the type of cartridge and approximate date ... all modern reproductions.

5. And one of my favorites ... what appeared to be a .58 cal Gardiner Explosive (Musket Shell) bullet (original worth $200 in good condition) altered by lathing to mimic a .54 cal Gardiner Explosive bullet (value from $1500 to $3000 depending on condition). That one took a lot of work and totally destroyed a $200 rare bullet.

6. The thousands of "Gettysburg Recovered" relics now flooding ebay and other relic outlets, including bullets and firearms that were not produced until 1864 and later (ah ... the amazing time travelling bullets).

The bottom line, if you are interested in any relic of any type, check out the numerous sources available for authenticating them. Most of the senior members of the relic collecting community will go out of their way to assist a novice buyer, either by directly appraising the relic or pointing the prospective buyer in the right direction to obtain the information needed to make a good decision.

Caveat Emptor,
TomH
(BTW: I picked up a very nice Wm Mason contract Model 61 Rifle Musket last weekend at the Gettysburg summer relic show. All the right cartouches and inspectors/sub-inspectors stamps and one of the nicest lockplates I have ever seen on a Mason contract. There are still treasures out there.)

 

[Fifth Iowa]

Fakes

A hunnert bucks for a good fake is not a bad deal...

In some cases, that's true, but it should always be advertised and sold as what it is... a replica.

 

[ole]

In some cases, that's true, but it should always be advertised and sold as what it is... a replica.

In this case, it was a citizen carrying it around at a gun show. In situations like that, you're on your own. Unlike TomH, I'm no kind of collector--don't know the proper markings, much less the models available, but it looked good. As to "it should always be advertised...." Yeah. Right.
Ole