Vintage Broadsides repro or real?

[LuckyLuke]

Does anyone know what to look for when looking at vintage broadsides? Short of sending the broadside for forensic examination...what are the tell tale signs of a reproduction or an authentic broadside?

Thanks in advance.

[Hankphenom]

This may not be very helpful, but real aging has a certain look to it, fake aging has a certain look to it. If you haven't seen enough of either to know the difference, you probably shouldn't be buying them. The context of availability is another clue, but not always decisive. eBay is full of fakes, but occasionally a real one pops up. In other venues they might usually be real, but occasionally a repro will sneak in. I would never buy anything framed without provenance. I'm as interested, or more, in the back than the front. Fakes are usually uniform on both sides in their "aging," whereas a real old piece will normally have suffered more on one side than the other. And sometimes your other senses are better than your eyes: old paper should smell musty, and it should not feel smooth. Hope this helps some.

[Jaybird]

agreed. And if you see many of the same one, they are most likely all repros. It doesn't make sense for someone to create a one-off. Normally they create all the art and go through the effort to produce it, they will print off many and try to pass them in a bunch of different locations. Then you see 3 or 4 at any given time on ebay, etc.

Original broadsides are out there but are few and far between. Think about how they would have hung, where they would be hanging. Honest wear is a term that is used but really think about it when you see one. Same goes for most memorabilia. Uniform aging is never a good sign.

[LuckyLuke]

Completely understood...however, what happens if I came across one that filled the description of uniform tanning back and front, stench of among other things, heavy cigarette smoke...and more issues with paper in front than back. Texture of card stock is thicker than paper of today (19 pts). Finally, I know that their are classic "sized" broadsides, but are there smaller ones with the same content on it? Really appreciate all the valuable input. Thanks.

[Ladder7]

You'd be wise to heed their advice, many good counterfeits out there.

Oh, the smell thing just ain't reliable. Heck, ten minutes in one of these and you'd look and smell like a vintage broadside too.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Ladder7

You'd be wise to heed their advice, many good counterfeits out there.

Oh, the smell thing just ain't reliable. Heck, ten minutes in one of these and you'd look and smell like a vintage broadside too.

Ha! But if old paper DOESN'T smell old, that can be a clue.

[Hankphenom]

How about a picture? Your description has all the elements of a fake, but I would really have to have it hand to know for sure. Broadsides come in all different sizes, but a small version of one that looks like it was designed to be full size would make me suspicious right away.