Some Food For Thought

[Th3rty7]

About reproductions being made since the 1800's.

http://www.flight-toys.com/artifacts/blackwell.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Folso...ctors-Desire-and-a-Collectors-Fear&id=2990936

http://www.americanarrowheads.com/id13.html

http://www.flight-toys.com/artifacts/br98.html

http://arrowheadology.com/forums/what-world/1540-fluted-clovis-folsom-real-fake.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/Arrowhead-collectors--Hunting-for-Hunters

http://www.ele.net/mccormick/mccormick.htm

 

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[The Grim Reaper]

Repros have been made since people first starting collecting artifacts and found out that money could be made from them. I have a book that was printed in 1892 that has an entire section on fakes including lots of pictures of Thunderbirds, Turtles, Snakes, Lizards, and all kinds of exotic looking flint pieces so people have been trying to dupe collectors for a very long time.

 

[flintdigger]

I have a slab blade about 8 inches long, that my grandfather's brother made in about 1900.

 

[Tnmountains]

Fantastic reading. Thanks for the research and getting them all together. Now days it's almost as if you do not dig it yourself is could be questionable. Shame that stuff shuffles thru generations and now we have flea bay. People always say they know what is good and what is not. I am not sure anyone can tell anymore. Depression era points. I guess it is a type?
Thanks Ryan very good.

 

[sidmind]

Funny stuff, link #5 is from a buddy of mine, I told him it was a fake just from the telephone call we had about it.
He made the right choice and didn't get ripped off. but I have to say I was tempted just from hearing about it. but it just sounded to good to be true.

 

[texaspoint]

in the world we live in today.
if you buy points, you buy want you like.
want it finely made, and very pretty.there no real way to tell if it real or not on the better made items

 

[pickaway]

Why i dont buy anymore and the few that i did buy, i got rid of, buying just dont do it for me just my imo...

 

[*Molly*]

There's always something or someone to spoil this hobby. Its best to just collect what you find. More fun in it anyways.
A guy from Iowa visited friends here, he was wanting to sell me some arrows. I could tell the broken ones were real but he had a Dove that basically was the size of my hand, I was very tempted but there was something quite not right.. When I questioned him, he got all upperty on me. Turned out he brought it from a show. I trust my gut feelin' on these things, glad I never brought it because I would have been real mad if it was fake. & now fakes date way back. Pisses me off.
I personally get no enjoyment out of buying points, I just love to find them..

Molly.

 

[Th3rty7]

in the world we live in today.
if you buy points, you buy want you like.
want it finely made, and very pretty.there no real way to tell if it real or not on the better made items

That's why I tend to run away from the really pretty ones. Some fakes are really well made down to a homemade patina that can fool authenticators. There's reproductions of just about everything in the market nowadays, designer clothes, guns, paintings, jewelry, Ferraris, gold bars, etc. the list is endless. I guess it just comes down to studying and research and most importantly imo hands on research. I've got a box with a couple questionable pieces and about 10 I know are fake, if anything they've been a good learning experience.

Here's a great page I found about buying artifacts, it's honest and he doesn't hold back, pretty scary too, especially the percentages of type fakes in the marketplace. I'm just putting these up to perhaps help new collectors or people interested in buying artifacts.


http://www.jimmausartifacts.com/avoid-buying-fake/

 

[pickaway]

Nice read 37 , I know a guy says he boils em dirt fat metal shavings etc...Met the guy one time and he's telling me this stuff and hes a big ebay seller, there are good legit ppl out there with good hearts and intentions, i think some of the authenticators are in on it too after all its just an opinion...

 

[Th3rty7]

Nice read 37 , I know a guy says he boils em dirt fat metal shavings etc...Met the guy one time and he's telling me this stuff and hes a big ebay seller, there are good legit ppl out there with good hearts and intentions, i think some of the authenticators are in on it too after all its just an opinion...

Agreed, there are some good guys out there who fight to keep it authentic. A couple of them are on this board. I think recent history has proved your last sentence to be true and I agree with you.


Some of those patinas in that list are nasty, I'm pretty sure I've got a baked on molasses job in my repro box, it's reeeally convincing, lol.

 

[pickaway]

Nice read 37 , I know a guy says he boils em dirt fat metal shavings etc...Met the guy one time and he's telling me this stuff and hes a big ebay seller, there are good legit ppl out there with good hearts and intentions, i think some of the authenticators are in on it too after all its just an opinion...

Agreed, there are some good guys out there who fight to keep it authentic. A couple of them are on this board. I think recent history has proved your last sentence to be true and I agree with you.


Some of those patinas in that list are nasty, I'm pretty sure I've got a baked on molasses job in my repro box, it's reeeally convincing, lol.

Agreed a few are on this board...Good guys indeed...

 

[The Grim Reaper]

There's always something or someone to spoil this hobby. Its best to just collect what you find. More fun in it anyways.
A guy from Iowa visited friends here, he was wanting to sell me some arrows. I could tell the broken ones were real but he had a Dove that basically was the size of my hand, I was very tempted but there was something quite not right.. When I questioned him, he got all upperty on me. Turned out he brought it from a show. I trust my gut feelin' on these things, glad I never brought it because I would have been real mad if it was fake. & now fakes date way back. Pisses me off.
I personally get no enjoyment out of buying points, I just love to find them..

Molly.

Molly, twenty years ago I felt exactly like you do. I thought anyone who would buy artifacts is just crazy when you can go out and find them for nothing. Then along came the advent of no till farming and the fact that everybody and their brother was going out to hunt the spots I used to be able to hunt by myself all day long and never see another soul unless a buddy was with me. The artifacts starting getting more scarce each year and now some of the sites I used to be highly disappointed in if I didn't find 10 to 20 arrowheads on I am now ecstatic if I come with one good point from there. I am lucky in the fact that I still have a few Ft Ancient sites that get deep rolled each spring and they still produce fairly regularly, but even one of them is starting to give up less and less every year. I have seen as many as 17 people in there at the same time after a good rain right after it's first plowed.

That's when I started buying a few things. I buy mostly Ft Ancient pieces when I can get a good deal and I have 2 guys on Ebay that I trust to sell me good artifacts and back them 100%. I will always love to hunt and would much rather find an artifact then buy it, but if I can get a good enough deal and I believe it's a good piece and I have the extra cash I have no problem buying something an increasing my collection.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[joshuaream]

"The artifacts starting getting more scarce each year and now some of the sites...."

Steve, help me understand this... The guy who finds more relics that any almost any one in Ohio (including four pipes in one year) is actually complaining that pieces are scarce? That's kind of like Larson complaining about how the calcium from all those bone artifacts is spoiling his veggie garden, or how all those beautiful notched points really dull his tiller blade as he plows through them.

 

[Randy Godwin]

I found this site linking to my article : http://hubpages.com/hub/Arrowhead-collectors--Hunting-for-Hunters I do not want people to think the photos used in my article are depicting fake artifacts. I did have a couple of photos on this article of points belonging to another collector which I removed because I wasn't sure whether they were fake or not. All of the photos used on this article and the other arrowhead related articles at this site are genuine as far as i can determine. Many have been found by me personally over a period of almost 50 years. This seems like a great site for collectors, I'm glad to be a new member. Any feedback or questions about my collection or articles would be appreciated.

Other related artifact articles:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Arrowhead-and-Projectile-Point-Collecting-Kill-Zones-and-How-to-Find-Them

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Clovis-Mystery-Theories-and-New-Evidence

Thanks!

 

[Silver Eagle]

IMO, theres no fun in buying relics! But, if buying is your thing, go for it!!
I make my own & hunt for authentic pieces as well, but I don't buy authentic points/relics unless im with the person who found the artifact on a particular site of interest..

Myself, I have been into hunting artifacts for alot more yrs than I have knapping & my curiosity about authentic flaked tools is one of the reason for learning to knap.. By learning to knap, I feel in touch with the ancient ones + im able to draw my own conclusions & a better understanding about lithic reduction methods & styles. Not to mention the fact that knapping allows me to own a fine well made piece that I will likely never find or be able to justify the cost of otherwise.. As far as decorating a den they work just as well as authentic pieces at a much reduced price.. There is also alot of mystery about ancient knapping techniques that have yet to be solved & knapping helps me enjoy that aspect of the hobby all the more.

Besides, lets face it, "anything you collect that is of value" is plagued with the same problems! It don't matter which side your on ("pro" or "anti") the best of intensions is beside the point! The greed exist on both sides like it or not..

Just my 2 cents worth..

 

[The Grim Reaper]

I am lucky in the fact that I still have a few Ft Ancient sites that get deep rolled each spring and they still produce fairly regularly, but even one of them is starting to give up less and less every year.

Joshua, like that statement there says, I am lucky to have a couple of sites that do still produce, like the one that the Pipes came from. But, by and large, most of the sites were I was finding a lot of Archaic pieces aren't plowed more than a few inches anymore and just don't produce. I still finds a lot of Ft Ancient pieces every year, but as the picture here shows, the other sites just don't produce like they used to. This is everything else I have found on sites other than my Ft Ancient sites and this is since the first of the year and the Pine tree at the top and the Hopewell at the bottom middle were bought, so you can see what I mean.

 

[Randy Godwin]

I intentionally turned the earth in one of my fields simply because it has not been done so for over a decade. Although we still find plenty of points in this spot every year, I wanted to see the difference when it had been recently turned. We have already found over two dozen nice points and a few larger pieces. Literally hundreds of points, tools, and a broken atlatl weight bears proof of this being a spot where the ancients used a former vast swamp as a containment area in order to harvest the game.