First and foremost Outlaw....I am not a member on any other site then this one. I thought about Arrowheadology, but it did not have the vast collecting field as this site has. I use my own opinion and no one elses. I clearly saw the same things as a couple of people on here did. Neanderthal is very experienced with western artifacts. Joshua Ream is very experienced with artifacts from North America, South America and has a killer frame of an this is if i remember it correctly Mongolian points that any collector would love. When I saw this piece I did not see it as glass. I still do not think it is glass, yet Neaderthal thinks it is. I think that would have been a hell of a slab of glass that clearly was of a type of glass made in the 1800's by the blood red in it. It doesn't ad up for glass. Could it be, well yes it could be glass. I do not think early settlers would slab a piece of glass over 8" long and over quarter of a inch thick to waste it on a arrowhead. Natives used glass to make points but they all have been small so as to say that they were made from a remnant bottle. You stated I had "MY Friends" back me up. Listen man I was honest with what I saw and that is based on experience. I do not need friends to back me up. It took a couple of people asking you where was this found and it took a bit for you to say where. I specifically asked Neanderthal his opinion because I wanted to hear it. Nothing more then that. I have been on here for years, you are new and I understand that. I took a sabbatical trying to get caught up in life and have not been on site for almost a yr. Those here can attest to that. As far as talking down to you and to others, well it is pretty funny how i point something out about that piece, something that several people did not know about even yourself and got bashed because I even made a reference towards that. I then gave you the benefit of the doubt that is was a real point. Because you found it! The problem is this is a exceptional point and with that there will always be scrutiny. Just as Quito said, You are leaving doubt for the next collector. Which is basically hat I said to you when i was stating how people try and set up sales by getting thumbs up on sites like this. Or even try and sell it to someone on this site who would ask to buy it. Yet once again you were offered the money and the insurance costs to authenticate that piece and yet you still refuse to have it looked at. WHY?? I mean I get the whole I don't want to do that yet you already have tried according to you. Not to mention if it was found and on your property like you said then there is no law against that. You own it and therefore can do what ever you want without repercussion. Those laws are set up to protect Nationally protected sites. As you have now tried to save face by trying to look good for the rest of the forum you have also shown me a little disrespect by stating that I talk down to people. As soon as I made my first comment I was attacked by Mainejman and Adamlray for what, expressing a opinion without directly calling you a liar. Let's review all of my posts to you and let's review all the replies and you will see who got talked down too. I merely expressed my opinion without saying it was a fake because at this time it still cannot be determined and that is why I asked my question. Not one person other then myself got attacked for a comment. Yet what I said was true and you did not expect that. Just because I sugar coated it to obviously cater to the weak disposition of some of the members on here does not change my view on it. I have given you the benefit and told you how to prove the naysayers wrong and you even had the offer for someone to pay for it and yet you still avoid. So you are telling me that all that time walking and collecting means nothing for the points you find? You would risk a point that could easily fetch $5000 IMO to preserve your honor as a person who does not care to preserve the provenance of the piece. You would also risk not getting insurance on something that could have substantial value. This is not intelligent at all and shows a callous collecting habit for all you care about is what they look like or how cool they are. It is people like you who set up another collector down the road to get burned by buying your collection of un-documented artifacts when you are dead. Whose to say your family member you give these to does not sell a few or get rid of the whole thing. You are doing them harm by your collecting actions today. Provenance is the holy grail when it comes to antiquity and you are leaving your family members none! To me all of this does not add up and speculation becomes the result. I have purchased collections and sold collections from all over the country does that make me a expert no. IT is the years I put into this and learning point types and material types yet even I can make mistakes. I hope you take Quito up on his offer and send this piece out. Your family member who ends up with this will thank you in the end for not making them look bad or costing them more money for something you passed on.
Just my opinion, but to a degree GTP, I just think you take things a bit too seriously. If someone posts an artifact that is possibly modern, sure, any number of members are entitled to weigh in with expressions of doubt. However, if 99 out of 100 posters says they don't think it's real, it is, in my opinion, 100% an appropriate response to say along the lines, if they so choose, "guys, appreciate your point of view, but I don't know, you weren't there, only I know the setting, and guys, I'm just not sure. I'm still having doubts on what you're telling me." And, I don't believe it is anybody's place to even tell him he needs/must get a COA. I don't think the presenter is even responsible for worrying about the "next collector". None of us have any business telling him what he should or should not do with his own artifact, including telling him he has to get a COA. Man, I really think you are WAY TOO JUDGMENTAL in what you are telling both mainejman and outlawatheart. I don't believe you mean anything but the best, and your knowledge and experience is invaluable and helpful to beginners and experienced alike, but you are all but supervising other collectors on their collecting habits. It's not, I believe, anybody's place to do that. Suggestions, not directives. It's like someone posts a questionable piece and all of a sudden they MUST do all these things. No, they do not have to at all. They do not have to get a COA. They don't have to be concerned with value. There is no requirement that a big side notch like that HAS to be recorded. And a person does not have to lose sleep worrying about the next collector. The presenter has the right to simply walk away from all your suggestions without anyone thinking less of him or her, and without them being accused of being detrimental to the hobby. I know you mean well, I know knowing something is fake and not real should be known to the owner of any artifact, but once they've shown it and heard opinions, they are not obligated to prove it's real or fake to anybody at all.
And any response they have to all these observations by others is their response. They own their own response. They are not required to continually refine their response until it matches what someone says their response should be.
This is not meant as an attack on you, GTP, you are an honest, knowledgable collector simply concerned about the problem of fakes. Nor is this intended as an advocate position for treating fakes the same as genuine.
