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General signs of a reproduction

What later copies get wrong.

Wear in the wrong places is the commonest tell — sharp where use would soften, worn where nothing rubs. Weight comes next: too light for solid metal or too heavy for the type both deserve suspicion.

Casting copies can carry bubbles, a seam from a mold taken off an original, and a surface “patina” that sits on high points instead of in recesses. A technique out of its time — electroplating on a “medieval” piece, rotary-tool marks on an “ancient” one — settles the question.

Under UV light, modern resins, glues, and repainted areas fluoresce differently from old surfaces. A loupe finds file marks and soapy detail the naked eye forgives. And treat a story that is too good — famous findspot, famous collection, no paperwork — as a warning, not a comfort.

When form says one period and material, wear, or technique says another, record it honestly as “after” that type and explain your reasoning. A well-documented copy is a respectable object; a copy sold as original is the only real problem.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on skills

Reading patina — What surface color tells you — and doesn’t.

Spotting casting seams — How an object was made narrows its date.

Recognising modern copies — The tells of a later reproduction.

Reading hallmarks and maker marks — A punched paper trail.

Weighing and the density test — Mass tells on fakes.

Using UV and magnification — Seeing what the eye misses.

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