| A common question among new collectors or | | | | It's not that bad, but guns must have been |
| those starting an antique dealer business is why | | | | manufactured before 1898 to be an antique. |
| are some old items called antiques while others | | | | |
| are just called vintage? Good question. A question | | | | Have and Eye for the Old |
| that makes me think of vinegar. Huh? There is | | | | New collectors tend to overlook the fact that it |
| everyday newly produced vinegar that costs | | | | is not difficult to manufacture an item in the same |
| pennies then there is aged vinegar that can cost | | | | style as a period piece, and with aging techniques |
| as much as a bottle of fine aged wine or liquor. | | | | it can be very difficult to spot a fake. So, how |
| The same is also true for "stuff". Technically, | | | | can you tell if your "antique" is hot off the |
| anything be it a hair pin to a piece of paper is | | | | assembly line or the genuine article? The only |
| anointed with antique status on its century old | | | | proven method is to read every resource about |
| birthday, and antiques are so desired because | | | | the items you wish to buy. Subscribe to specialty |
| they simply get better with age. It is this aging | | | | magazines, read collecting books, analyze pictures |
| process that gives an item, be it food or | | | | readily available online that are common fakes, |
| furniture, a quality that cannot be reproduced. | | | | and attend auction previews were you can freely |
| | | | examine items. This becomes your education and |
| The set standard for antiques in the industry is | | | | how you will acquire an eye for what is old. |
| when an item is 100 years old. Normally antique | | | | Remember, you can abstain from acquiring |
| dealers (the honest ones) stick to this timeline so | | | | antiques at an auction, and simply go to learn. |
| customers can rely on a consistent standard, but | | | | Look over the items. Hold them. Feel the fabrics. |
| the inexperienced ebayer or unscrupulous seller | | | | Compare old pieces of glass, porcelain and |
| may list an item that is only 75, 50, even 30 | | | | pottery to newer ones. The more you see it, feel |
| years old as an antique, when it is really vintage. | | | | it, and study it, the more of an expert you |
| So always ask the seller how old it is. If they | | | | become. |
| claim not to know ask how they determined it | | | | |
| was an antique. That is certainly a fair question. | | | | For example, an experienced person may see old |
| As the buyer you must educate yourself on how | | | | tin pea cans that were pitched by workers under |
| to spot a fake, or you may end up paying | | | | a bridge over a hundred years ago and think they |
| hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars for a | | | | were trash. But the experienced collector knows |
| reproduction. (Reproductions have been made for | | | | that if those labels are in pretty good shape, that |
| centuries, so even the old fakes look authentic!) | | | | trash is actually a treasure. This doesn't apply to |
| | | | all antiques, however. Just because something is |
| Exception to the Rule | | | | an antique doesn't mean it will bring big daddy the |
| Firearms must actually be older than 100 years in | | | | big bucks. |
| order to be an antique. Hold it, don't get locked up. | | | | |