Some newbie questions and general fur trade artifacts questions

[comma]

Hey guys,
Very new to fur trade artifacts but I am very interested in them. Mainly the iron arrowhead fur trade pieces.

What is the best resource out there to learn more about these?
Or if anybody here could give me a general break down that would be great!

Also curious about fakes and how to tell authentic pieces. The pieces I have bought come with certificates of authenticity (which I know aren't foolproof) and I'm buying from well known sellers with guarantees.

The COAs are from "Archaeologist Douglas Cadillac Skoglund". Are they a reliable authenticator?

Any info you guys have would be great!

 

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[Ia.FurTrade]

Welcome aboard, Comma! Personally, unless I (or friends) find Fur Trade artifacts, we stay away from ebay & the junk , fake stuff we see in antique malls, etc.
I realize this doesn't help you much.......even as much stuff as I've seen, I still don't trust my judgement on some of it. I doubt if most of those COA's are worth the paper they are printed on! As to Skoglund, you need to search his name on the internet to see what you can find out about his credentials.(But any info can be suspect when it comes to the internet!!) I know nothing about him.....
Sorry I can't help you more! Lar Hothem's book "Indian Trade Relics,Identification & Values" is a good source book....

Iowa Dale

 

[vpnavy]

Hey guys...

I noticed this was your very first post - so, Welcome Aboard comma! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country). You might also consider adding your state (or country) to your displayed profile (SETTINGS -> EDIT PROFILE).

 

[Hawks88]

Welcome to tnet from Niagara Falls.

 

[glass half fool]

Welcome to Tnet . This is a great place to learn .But they say " Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted "Many have been helpful here but we still need to ask the right questions and sort out the info we get in those answers Good luck

 

[comma]

Welcome to Tnet . This is a great place to learn .But they say " Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted "Many have been helpful here but we still need to ask the right questions and sort out the info we get in those answers Good luck

Thanks guys!
Are there any general rules of thumb to look for with fakes or anything? This seems like a very hard area to research.

Does anybody have experience with the eBay seller " joeeaglefeather" or the "Windwalker" collection?

Also, are there any other forums or resources out there that focus on this stuff?

Thanks again!

 

[comma]

I did buy the recommended book above "Indian Trade Relics,Identification & Values"

But just wanted to send one more message and see if anybody else could recommend any other resources as I don't really know where else to reach out to other than this forum.

Thanks!

 

[gunsil]

The real "fur trade" was over by the civil war and not many real pieces survive from then. I have never seen a real "fur trade" knife for sale on the net although there are hundreds for sale. The term is so loosely used that it is almost inane. COAs are also very commonly faked or made out by people who have no idea of what they are looking at. There are many who have a degree in archaeology who don't know jack about many fields of study. The archie on American Diggers misidentifies many items on that show. The real fur trade was in the 1700s and it would be almost impossible for an iron arrowhead to survive in the ground from that time. The best and definitely real fur trade items are the rare silver trade items that have been found by detector users or archies on sifting digs. I have even seen many misidentified "fur trade" items in books so that often isn't the best guide either. Many small local museums also have a plethora of artifacts that are natural stones and misidentified artifacts. Places like the Smithsonian or the large city museums of natural history are the best places to see real items from that era.

 

[comma]

The real "fur trade" was over by the civil war and not many real pieces survive from then. I have never seen a real "fur trade" knife for sale on the net although there are hundreds for sale. The term is so loosely used that it is almost inane. COAs are also very commonly faked or made out by people who have no idea of what they are looking at. There are many who have a degree in archaeology who don't know jack about many fields of study. The archie on American Diggers misidentifies many items on that show. The real fur trade was in the 1700s and it would be almost impossible for an iron arrowhead to survive in the ground from that time. The best and definitely real fur trade items are the rare silver trade items that have been found by detector users or archies on sifting digs. I have even seen many misidentified "fur trade" items in books so that often isn't the best guide either. Many small local museums also have a plethora of artifacts that are natural stones and misidentified artifacts. Places like the Smithsonian or the large city museums of natural history are the best places to see real items from that era.

Thanks! Yeah, it seems like a weird world where no-one knows if anything is real. I have never experienced that in other areas I collect in.

For an iron arrowhead in particular, would that just be something someone faked in their garage, or would they be some other trader or Native American artifact (maybe not as old) that served a different purpose than specifically "fur trade item"?

I've also noticed that a lot of sellers consider the fur trade era to until late the 1800s which seems wrong.