Potential Gem Amongst The Rough

[Iain]

Originally Posted by shaun2k

Thank you for that image, it is that type of sword to sad to say, it must have had the end damaged and re pointed, obviously i was spun a yarn by the previous owner..it must certainly wasn't found in the ground in Torrington by his grandad, he obviously knew this, and that makes 12 months of research and excitement vanish very fast.. I'm really gutted because i made myself look a fool in front of some of the leading specialists in the country..

I was right though about one thing, i said it wasn't from England originally..

A few lessons here have been taken in.

i paid £400.00 for it + 300 miles of fuel, wasted 12 months of my social life and made myself look very stupid.

no-wonder the antiquity world are cagey about new artifacts really, if this is how low people go to make a few quid

Hi Shaun,

I didn't want to elaborate too much in my first post because I know all too well the pain of a purchase that was not what you expected and the time spent figuring it out. I have to say you are taking it better than most collectors I know!

There are a ridiculous number of fakes on the market when it comes to ancient and European arms and sadly once an item has passed through an auction house or two, this starts to be taken as provenance. There are also those out there who don't hesitate to cobble together parts and call it something unique for the unsuspecting buyer. Sad, but unfortunately the state of the collecting world these days. I rarely buy on the open market anymore myself even though my area of specialty is thankfully rarely troubled by deliberate fakes.