Is this document a FAKE??

[CT_civilwar_buff]

Hello,
I had recently purchased a civil war document and I am now disappointed because it appears that there are light vertical lines on the paper I think it is a fake laser copy printer.
What do you think?

 

[AndyHall]

Others can probably address this with more authority, but that could be an artifact of the paper-making process.

 

[James B White]

Others can probably address this with more authority, but that could be an artifact of the paper-making process.

What he said. Are you familiar with laid paper? That'd be the first thing to eliminate as a possbility.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

What color is the ink? If it is a "faded" black, almost brown looking, I would lean more toward authentic, although it can still be faked....I don't know a lot about it, but that is where I would start.
I hope that someone more knowledgeable and helpful comes along!
Good luck!

 

[John Hartwell]

It's hard to be sure with the scan, but it does look like normal laid paper.

 

[MRB1863]

Hold the paper up to the light. Is there a watermark in it?

 

[CT_civilwar_buff]

Like this? @MRB1863

 

[E_just_E]

FWIW hard to tell whether something is a "fake" or not based on a photo. There are "fakes" and "fakes". If you are worried about photocopies/printed copies, get a high magnification glass and look at the ink. If you can see definite overlap where you should see it (in loops and crossed letters) then it is not copied/printed. Could be other kinds of "fake" though.

Hard to tell from here, as I said, but that L in the previous magnified picture looks right... Still need to see IRL.

 

[Patrick H]

It's impossible to say from way up here in Missouri, but your photo DOES look like laid finish paper. Of course, a print could be made on laid paper and so could an original document. I don't think you ought to freak out about it for now, but see if you can find a person familiar with old documents at a local university, library, or a similar resource. You are getting good tips and clues here.

 

[John Hartwell]

If there is only the one word "Paid," it's hardly a "document." And, what would be the purpose of faking it?
If you are asking if the paper itself is fake ... can't really tell. You can buy laid paper today, though it's not as common as a century and more ago.
If it is photocopied, it would likely be one-sided. If both sides were copied, hold it up to the light, and see if those grills (lines) match up exactly. The lines should be in the paper, not on it.

 

[MRB1863]

Like this? @MRB1863

I was thinking more of a watermark containing a manufacturer mark. A popular paper used for stationery about forty years ago was called "Classic Laid". The parallel lines that look less opaque than the rest of the paper resembles the pattern used in Classic Laid papers. That, however does not make it a recent document by itself, since the Classic Laid series of paper was designed to emulate a 100% rag paper made in the previous century. A trip to a conservator or appraiser of ephemera or aged documents may prove very worthwhile in ascertaining the originality of your document.