ArtiFackery

[tomclark]

I posted recently about mixed collections, inherited collections, bought collections.....
I have had several pieces given to me because people know I collect. I've bought or traded only a few items and as I said before. They were mostly things that were found in my presence by friends. In the early 90's I went to a killer small local show in St. Leo, FL. I went to shows back then but don't now lolol. I bought a sweet coral triangle (Pinellas) point that I picked out of a cigar box full of points (I assume now that most where real but of course since I picked the nicest one out...I hit the lottery......yes pretty much most in the box were basic field grade/funky, broke..DUH TOM). I bought it from a local digger known to many at a local show, he had a table like all the other shows. I'd seen him before (and...since grrr/lol) They were like 5 bucks back then.... bone pins were like 10 bucks and tools were a couple of dollars. I picked the nicest one out. Fast forward to internet days....and eBay.... I decided to winnow out my collection to just personal finds so I put that sweet Pinellas up on eBay. It was in the CENTER of my Woodland/Mississippian Triangle case for YEARS. Never looked at it with a magnifying glass. Never ever gave a thought about it being a repro/fake. Few, if any people worried about fakes much in the past even though we all knew people have been reproducing/copying/faking points for well over a hundred years. (multiply X amount of points made by one person over their lifetime times the number of people doing it for fun or perfidy times the number of years = EBAY and hidden monsters in caseboxes. OMG the unmarked repros/fakes of Florida pieces on eBay these days blows me away. And there are no loss of buyers and good feedbackers...

I think I got $45. for the coral pinellas point....had a return policy. Buyer sent it to the authenticator I would also have used for Florida pieces, Carlos Tatum. Carlos killed it with a little explanation....seems this point has a history....(reportedly found in Volusia Co. in 1964?!?!?!? It had been seen before.... I certainly didn't get that info from the cigar box jerk. What a fool I was (back then..!) I returned the money and shipping paid, got the point back. Normally any fake point that I come across gets the ballpeen. This one was quite a lesson.
If you buy, beware. Beware means Be Aware. Get a loupe. If you are a newbie to collecting (ANYTHING!), learn what to look for and do not trust everyone lol. IMHOP newbies should not begin collecting by buying unless it is The Only Way. I think it is a good idea to keep any bought/unauthenticated pieces away from your personal finds or known authentic pieces and cases. When we go...your cases and pieces when broken up eventually will all be what Dad/Uncle/Friend "Insert Name Here" found.

[fldwlkr]

A pretty point to be sure. Sorry it turned out to be less than authentic. Using ancient artifact to create a new one... they are good at their fackery. I hope some of the "new kids" read this post since some are purchasing points. For me, if I didn't find it I really don't want it... thus my collection is meager.
Thanks for posting this, fldwlkr

[redrocks]

Ain't never bought nothing ..but have looked here and there...thanks for the tip Tom. ..there's so much scamming goin on in this world .. Good advice man

[Hoss]

Years ago a woman was selling some points from a collector from Shelton CT. The man was well known. I went to talk to the lady she was in her early sixties this was ten years ago or more. ANywayt she had a case of burlington flint points she was sellingt and reporting them as found in Fairfield county CT. by her late uncle. I told her there was absolutly no way those points were found in Fairfield county CT. She said her uncle found them when they were building the Merrit Parkway back in the 1930's and that I was wrong. I pointed at one small point in the frame and asked her to read the word on it. "Indiana" then she just looked at me and asked how I could tell they where all from there. I explained that white flint comes from out in Missouri , Illinois and sometimes is found in surrounding states. WHite in Connecticut is quartz and these were not quartz. They were a lot of three and four inch points in there and I would not touch it with a ten foot pole. Not only Burlington but probably modern too boot.
That is a prime example of children sitting around the uncle's or grandfathers house in awe of the collection and just believeing that said gamps or unc found every single one of them in the families surrounding area.
This stuff has been in families collections for hundreds of years. As time goes by and the elders die off the kids like to embelsh stories and adjust them to what they think they know about the elders. How oftern do we ask a child to do something and they forget moments later. Well Gramps may have told the gosple truth to these youngins but it always sounds nicer when you can put gramps up on a pedestal. Just embelish it a bit to make the stuff seem that mich cooler. Great topic Tom Be aware I like it. Be aware!

[tomclark]

Perfect.

[tomclark]

I get eBay and other auction site search notifications about Florida artifacts every day, especially shell items and especially from my immediate area. Not to buy but to learn and looky looky. I'm an expert in my own mind on shelly artifacts from here. I'm pretty good at material and points of all FL types and all stages of production and continuum of use. It is beyond my understanding what I'm seeing for sale and what is being bought today versus even a few years ago, never mind decades.....
There is no lack of unscrupulous hucksters or their prey these days. More and more instead every day. Twice as many people in the US today than the time I was born.

[Tam]

Beware , be careful and be safe out there it’s getting crowded and expensive which brings on a chain of events and scams .
For some its a way of life .

[gregszybala]

Good post Tom, hope some take it to heart and learn from it.

[Tam]

Also I am taking every point I find and logging it with the collection with tyeclongitude and latitude so that the person that gets it will know exactly where it canme from, date etc .
I remember a case you some how aquired Tom or were helping somone with and we were all putting in our 2 cents .
Look at the bucket Chuck is going through .
I think we need to look at the future and the person that gets our collection . As far as what’s in my window hmm