Readers comments

Dear Mr. Savage, You don't know me, although I regularly read your column in American Digger. I am associated with the Lela Latch Lloyd Museum in Cisco, Texas. You may have read the writeup about the museum in the November issue of Western & Eastern Treasures. As a result of that writeup, I received a call from a man, and a followup set of photos of a supposed Texas CW buckle with a bullet impacted in it. This is being offered to our museum, BUT the photos certainly do not look as if this were original. Would you be interested in seeing these and giving me your opinion. While the lead backing looks original, I am not sure if Texas buckles used lead backing. The bullet does not look damaged enough to have been fired into the buckle. Also, the back of the bullet looks flattened as if it were driven into the buckle with a hammer. Finally, the patina is extremely nice for a buckle of this age. Sincerely, Jerry

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I have been perusing your magnificent site which fingers Civil War fakes.

I have really enjoyed all of your comments and observations. I just started buying Civil War buttons on E-bay, so I really appreciate the "heads up."

Thank you so much for providing this valuable service to humanity.

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Ric,
I was hoping you can help me out with this. This knife is currently for sale and looks suspiciously like an Atlanta Cutlery knife pictured here. Is it a fake (I think it may be)? I've attached pictures. Thanks so much.

Tristan

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Mr. Savage did not know how to address this but I was looking around at Relics and found this web site the Alabama Map/Tree buckle at $400 dollars has to be fake along with the Breast plat. I was wondering what you think.

Thank you so much for keep our hobby straight.

William

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Hello
I came upon your site and would like to know if it's still current. I've been metal detecting for over 30 years and during my last trip was fortunate enough to have access to a verified Confederate campsite. I've verified, without doubt, some of the items but have a few that remain a mystery. Would anyone associated with your site be of assistance in helping me identify the items if I sent a pic.

Thank you in advance
Susan

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Hey, cool site. This should be required reading for auction site users.

My name is Michael H. and I am looking to pick up a Confederate D guard bowie for my office. Problem is I really do not know what I'm looking for. I have been doing some research and it looks like most of them seem to be pretty expensive. I found one on gunbroker and was interested in it because it seems to be in OK shape, it says it is from Tn, (as I am) and it is reasonably priced....but is it TOO reasonably priced?

I read through your work on spotting fakes and while it does not have any stampings on it, it is from a seller in Bristol Tn......but at least his spelling seems to be OK.....

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Hi Rick.

I am a general line antique dealer who has an opportunity to buy a "Civil War Bowie". The blade I am looking at is like the one that you have on your site that is marked C.S. Armory.

I will put a copy of your picture below and a picture of the one that I am going to look at after it.

My questions are as follows. Was this style ever really in use or are all of these repros? I have not yet held the knife in my hands so questions may be difficult to answer. I hope the picture will be of help.

Any information you could provide will be much appreciated. I will be putting a link on my site to yours soon.

Thanks

James

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Attached are photos I took today of a buckle I got from my grandfather. Can you tell by looking at these photos if it is authentic or a replica? Thanks for your thoughts and opinion!

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Hi Ric. I'm a relic hunter living in Falling Waters, WV. A few years ago, I found a block I button with a rusted iron back in an area that was used for the 140th anniversary of Antietam re-enactment. The site was also along the Confederate trench line that went from Hagerstown, MD to Downsville, MD in the days after Gettysburg and we have found good relics there - Gardner bullets, mostly.

Thanks for your time and I appreciate what you're doing in helping folks educate themselves.

Keith

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Rick I would like to thank you for such a great web site, it really helps when buying relics off ebay...I have been using your site for years...Im also a Psycho relic hunter! I cant seem to get enough, been CW hunting for many years...I have never thought to ask you...But if your ever in The Savannah Ga. area and feel like swatting some skeeters and maybe digging a eye popper, Please drop me an email..There still a lot of relics in the ground around here..I never come home empty handed...

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Hello Rick,

I just came across your excellent site today, and would like your permission to add a link to it from my website the next time I get to working on it. My site is at http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcollector and hasn't been updated in a few years, but as a longtime collector of Civil War sabers, I find your website a very helpful place for newer collectors and have recommended it a few times since finding it. I was looking at the section on reproductions and came across a picture of a fake Ames mark that may have been copied by someone who found the real mark shown on my site (http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcollector/marks/49AmLArt.jpg) from an artillery saber I used to own. I also have a large listing of authentic sword manufacturer's marks here http://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcollector/marks/page2.html that you might want to direct people to from your page on fake swords and knives. Helping people tell the real things from the fakes was my original idea behind putting up that page.

It always surprises me to come across celebrity collectors. Sometimes I forget that fame doesn't make people forget their hobbies.

Best regards,
Mike

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First of all great site!

Second of all you need a pay-pal donate link! You will be suprised how folks will pay for great info-even if they do not have too...

Third....I have a friend with this knife- I told him I knew of your site and I would check this out.

Thanks to your site I went to Atlanta Cutlery and found an almost identical Pommel. Not to say that Atlanta Cutlery did not copy this "original" Any way, any chance of getting an opinion?

Thanks,

Bruce

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Hi. Thanks for the great information. This may be an odd question considering your site, but I could never afford an authentic Civil War flag and would like to find high quality reporductions made historically accurate. Do you know of any good sources? Where do the reenactors obtain their flags? Thanks

Jeff

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I have a very good friend who has been re-enacting Civil war Union impressions, infantry and naval for the better part of 20 years. I'd love to get him a decent sutler's token, but don't have any real knowledge of coins in general and would hate to get some crappy repro or fake that I know he'd spot in a second. I'm also asking a mutual friend of ours that is an ancient coins collector to see if he can help me find something for him. My friend is a lot like you, extremely detail-oriented and quite knowledgeable about original vs repro. I came across your site and saw that clearly you are really good at spotting fakes and aged repro items. Can you suggest a reputable dealer that I might contact? I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. Thanks for your help.

Tammy

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Hello

I'm trying to date this U.S. Navy hat insignia, so far I'm told sometime in the 1800's. Can you tell me if it is 1800's and if it's an officer insignia? I would appreciate any help to can provide.

Steve

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I want to point your attention to a auction currently running on proxi bid. Please see the link below. As a very new collector and relic hunter I am practically lost. I have only been relic hunting for about 7 months and will be attending my first organized hunt at the end of March, DIV 17. I occasionally search for civil war related items on auction sites and found this today. I thought to myself wow thats a good price and googled "slave tag" before I bid. I found your site and from what I can tell this is fake. Am I right?
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Ric

Here is one for your site, this was sold as a circa 1800 infantry canteen flask, at first look it looks old but upon inspection it is a fake. See Photos after I opened it to see inside, it was clearly new, stained to look old and even had the worn look placed on it and had a new wood smell, wood that old don't smell. This was sold by an eBay seller from Great Britain who goes by (trafalgar1805antiques) and he is selling a lot of items.

Steve

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Hi there,

Hi Rick. Sure do APPRECIATE your help in exposing some of these b*stards who sell fakes on Ebay.

See 120187494529 for another fake, repro pinback by Scattaurus out of California.....horrible merchandise and why Ebay continues to let him list.....guess they like the fees that they collect from this ahole.

Happy Thanksgiving Ric. Take care.

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see ebay auction 300174070240 I sold this item to the current
seller in July ebay auction 150137743616 and there was no
writing on the back--have reported this crook to ebay will see if
they do anything.

walt

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Nice piece on the EBAY crooks. I would require that repros etc be listed under the "reenactors" category or banned altogether. Some of those thieves are bigger rip-off artists that the dealers' websites. Even worse, these b*stards hawk counterfeit silver stars and the medal of honor which should be illegal in my book...

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Hi Ric

Your site is looking very nice!

I liked your article in the American Digger magazine this month.

Did you catch the killer spear point that Terry Waxham picked up in the Mississippi bayou?

If not take a look at it: http://www.cwpforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=752

Nice to see your fake plates section; if you want to stick this one in there it might help someone.

Although not a blatant fake it could be passed to someone who is less knowledgeable about such thievery.

It is a reproduction C.S.A. rectangle belt plate made from an original Atlanta Arsenal mold by the Bannerman Company.

Sand cast measuring 46mm wide by 66mm long, figure 43 in Crouch’s book.

Bannerman plates are O K if sold as such and are collected for what they are.

This one however has a righteous patina to it and if you didn’t recognize the sharp curved hooks it’s a good fake.

I suppose it could have been lost and later recovered at a UCV reunion site but I seriously doubt it.

Thus I think it was buried to age it for a while?

Best regards,

Danny

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Hey Rick:

I just want to let you know , your web page is real cool, you throw alot of good info for buying relics, I collect Muskets and Cartridge Boxes { BIG INVESTMENT} of the period. I do know what I'm looking for, I'm also a long time /Battlefield Preservationist/ Living Historian, who does alot of Public History Demos at NPS Battlefields, {YES I'M VOLUNTEER} and I am ALSO ashamed to here of A$$'s pull this Crap! I've seen it once, a bunch of us were doing a weekend Demo at the Carter House in Franklin, Tenn, some Old Fart INBREED Spec tater had a Old Cotton Bag , He was trying to pass-it off as a Confederate Haversack he found as boy in Tenn, and we all looked at it, and him for a sec or two, examine the bag again and again look at him with look like {GET THE F&*K out of here} threw the bag, back to him, snickered and walked off, I wanted to Axe the F^@Kers but went with the other guys to cool down, what gave it away was the 1930s Machine chain Stitching in the inside of the bag, and also how the guy was telling the "BIG STORY" of the bag. but it was a Big fake. I have one thing to say about people that Make fake relic, GET SOME F@^#King PROFESSIONAL HELP!!!!, and real job, AND THAT GUY THAT SOLD THE FLAG FOR $6000.00, WHAT F&#(king GUY! HE PROBABLY DOESN'T EVEN DO HIS OWN F#%$King! DAM POOG, you should be hung-up by your Balls! Anyway I had to let that all out, it ticked me off!...Hah, I'm a Professional, {but I also HATE people who like to do Fraud!} I like your web site I hope you can put-up some new stuff, I also have great respect for people who can catch the Fake stuff out there, AND EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON THIS MANOR, Thanks Rick !

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I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your E-bay fakes web site. I can't wait until you update it each time so I can see what fake items you have found and expose the deceivers who try to scam the honest ones who are only trying to enjoy this great Civil War collecting hobby we ALL have. I respect your honesty and integrity. We SALUTE you.

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I ran across one of your auctions while cruising E-bay, and I was pleased to see that I'm not the only one who's p*ssed off about all the dirt-bags selling fake Civil War relics! I got hosed myself last year on a dagger that I did a buy it now on for $450.00. Afterwards, I discovered that it was most likely an Atlanta Cutlery piece that someone had cleverly aged to look as if it were over 100 years old. It might be authentic, but I seriously doubt it.

I checked out your web pages about spotting fakes, and I can only say, I wish I'd run across them sooner! I've been collecting knives for over 40 years, and I thought I was pretty savvy, but obviously not as sharp as I thought I was.

Anyway Ric, I appreciate folks such as yourself who are really trying to do something to stamp out the slime balls on E-bay.

If you ever get out to my neck of the woods in west-central Montana, give me a shout and I'll buy you a beer! Brad W.

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Your piece on frauds and fakes is absolutely outstanding, the best I have read, with actual examples of the various cons. Keep up the great work!!! Robert R.

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Hello I am a collector of French blades and militia swords. I tried just writing you but ebay kept blocking my emails. I commend you you sir on a very fine description and your reviews are are outstanding. ebay needs more like your kind, you are a class act.
Respectfully Lynn B.

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Hey Ric,

I was in Fields Of Glory Friday when you were there & thought you looked familiar...Not a wrestling fan so it must've been from seeing you there before or elsewhere around the battlefield area... Anyway, after asking about you in there to figure out why you looked familiar to me, I was told about your website and checked it out.

Awesome site! Especially love the witty comments! Education is best served with a sense of humor to make it stick. My wife & I were laughing our asses off at some of the captions!

One question... Do you ever send a link to your site to the poor saps who bid on/win these auctions?

I collect CDV's and other early photography and there are so many fakes where people try to write a name on the back and turn an unID'd soldier into someone who was KIA or at least one with an interesting service record or juicy pension file.

Some are so bad that they use ball point pen and even those who use a nib or pencil usually don't have any idea of what period handwriting style looked like or how to reproduce it. Thank God it's more work than most lazy crooks are willing to invest to relearn how to write! What Really Sucks is that some are real and just labeled by a modern descendant but thanks to all the crooks out there, you can't trust any Id'd like that without first verifying with your own research. The worst part to me is that some Soldier who fought for his country 145 years ago is becoming a victim of identity theft today. LOL

Hey did you get into the Gettysburg Antique center on Baltimore Street & see the photo in case 18 of the soldier with a feather in his hat listed as a "PA Bucktail"? The worst part is that a collector I know who specializes in the Bucktails told them it's not a Bucktail & they still have it labeled as one.

Keep up the great work exposing the scum!

Chris

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Nice guide on Civil War flags. I came across it purely at random. I decided to search on a whim and came up with this auction 270127679287 for starters. What idiot would buy this thinking it was real?
Keep up the good work,
Oland

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Hi I've read most of your guides and found them superb. I'm Kevin Mulrooney, I wrote Spectrum Secrets on the Whites Spectrum, you're probably a Nautilus guy though! You can call Mike O'Donnell if you know him: we both got PAID to hunt Valley Forge last year; great story there indeed.

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Great guide on fakes, thanks for the heads up. I just was scammed on a WWII jap flag that I bought for my son. Now I'm stuck with a $150 rag. Can you give me any advice on what to do? I havent posted feedback, contacted the seller to say I doubted its authenticity and he has responded that he thinks I'm full of sh*t essentially. Should I post feedback and take a hit from him on my score? I really dont care about the score, but I dont want this guy to screw over others. Any advice would be appreciated. email address is ___________ for me. Name is Charley A. Thanks in advance!

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Hello, I was reading your site and found it very useful. I'm sending you a photo of a fake I have in my possessionand that may help some buyers; you are free, of course, to put it on your site or wherever you decide.

Best regards (from Portugal)

Jorge T.

Here is the fake "Runaway Slave Patrol" badge:

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Hello Ric:
Just visited your interesting SAVAGE-STATION.COM web site,
and enjoyed reading your collecting guides, especially about
flags which are my favorite subject. I also noted that you
locate items others are "looking for", and as such I wanted
to let you know that I am seeking for my collection some dug
relic spear point tops as shown in the attached photo. Do let 
me know if ever you see anything available like these examples.
Sincerely,
Ben K
www.TheColours.info

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Hi. I just read your brief guide on spotting fake swords n knives. Very helpful, thank you!

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