confederate swords, looking for advice

[O.G-Palmer]

Can anyone give advice on spotting fake confederate swords, I maybe abele to acquire one soon but obviously i do not want to get stung by a fake POS worth didly squat.

 

Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

 

Ollie

[tsakers85]

My advice is stay way from CSA swords, they are often faked.

[Spathologist]

Buy the standard references, of which there are many. Study them. Visit museums and public collections, go to events where you can handle the real deal.

 

And then tread very, very carefully. Confederate swords on the market are probably 95% faked or doctored.

[Bob Hudson]

My advice is stay way from CSA swords, they are often faked.

 

And they can be so artfully faked that you cannot know the difference without lots of study and handling of many different swords.

 

What I sometimes is to buy a low-cost but passable fake item so I can use it for learning purposes, something to have in hand as I go through various sources trying to understand the differences between real and forgery. I've applied this to things as diverse as samurai swords and bakelite bracelets (the $100 fake bracelets I bought turned out to be real and worth over $4,000).

 

Take a look here to get an idea of prices at a reputable auction house: http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/sear...nfederate+sword

 

Now consider how much you would pay to have a decent looking CSA sword you think is a forgery: not a total fake, but one that actually bears some resemblance to the real thing, not the ones that have markings and styles that have no real counterpart, such as the one in this Antiques Roadshow segment:

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200502A44.html

 

There's nothing wrong with buying a nice reproduction when you know that's all it is: heck it's done all the time with art, but you just don't want to buy a print for rhe price of an original painting.

[bayonetman]

Sorry to say. all of the above comments are true. Even the experts can be fooled to some degree by some of the forged CSA swords. No way that I know that you can learn enough on your own unless the forgery is so bad that even a newcomer will recognize it. I have spent 50 years messing with US Civil War items and would never buy a CS sword except from a recognized and knowledgeable dealer (and then would expect to pay the price) unless I could get it for the price of a modern replica (say under $200) in which case I MIGHT take a chance and hope. There are real ones still out there in the attic of course, and one might turn up anywhere, but unless I could get it appraised by at least TWO recognized collectors/dealers, I would not pay over that $200. But as far as being able to tell you how to recognize a forgery, NO WAY!

[m1ashooter]

I'll echo the following advice. Even Rick on Pawn Stars was advised by his guy not to buy a CSA sword for the same reasons unless you knew it belonged to the family of one of our great southern warriors.