ept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the

Having replicated antiquities of indigenous Native American people for over a quarter of a century, I have come into contact with many forgers. One may ask,” what is the difference between a replicator and a forger?” A replicator reproduces an artifact as closely resembling the ancient artifacts, in the same way as the maker did hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The good forger, many times uses the very same techniques, the difference lays in the motive.

As a Native American teacher, I taught my students how our ancestors used the available resources to create implements of survival. These are the life ways of people who had no modern conveniences to count on, for clothing, cooking, hunting, and home building. I made these implements and sold them as modern made reproductions, to fund my student’s supplies and my travels to them.

The forger’s do their work for manipulation and greed for money. This statement may not have much impact on a reader who has never invested a large sum of money, in what they thought might be a spear point of ancient origin. Perhaps, a trusting soul spent several thousands of dollars on a pot, which had a glorious story attached to it's discovery. Later, the purchaser finds the pot was a modern made fake.

I shall relate a tragedy of large proportions to you. I will not divulge the names or locations, as it would be more of a burden on this unfortunate family, than they are already carrying.

Last year, I was called upon to authenticate a very large Native American collection. Some people had valued it at just under a million dollars. When I arrived and was escorted to the location of this collection, it was literally shocking to see the amount of pieces in this collection. It was huge to say the least. There were pieces that were so beautiful, that it was hard to imagine the hands of the past reaching out through time, and handing these masterpieces to us.

The man had collected these pieces over a seventy year period of his life. He is a fine man and his family are warm country folks. He worked hard to support his family; his honesty was clear and solid. Yet, at the end of the examination, I had to inform him that nearly all the very valuable pieces, he had collected and paid for, were fakes. They were modern day replicas that were made by a band of thieves who had a front man. This front man had gained the confidence of this poor fellow over a long period of time, and, then began to sell him these fraudulent pieces, for some very large amounts.

The family was both devastated and angry. It was a tragedy so deep that while I was at my hotel room I wept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the e

nces to count on, for clothing, cooking, hunting, and home building. I made these implements and sold them as modern made reproductions, to fund my student’s supplies and my travels to them.

The forger’s do their work for manipulation and greed for money. This statement may not have much impact on a reader who has never invested a large sum of money, in what they thought might be a spear point of ancient origin. Perhaps, a trusting soul spent several thousands of dollars on a pot, which had a glorious story attached to it's discovery. Later, the purchaser finds the pot was a modern made fake.

I shall relate a tragedy of large proportions to you. I will not divulge the names or locations, as it would be more of a burden on this unfortunate family, than they are already carrying.

Last year, I was called upon to authenticate a very large Native American collection. Some people had valued it at just under a million dollars. When I arrived and was escorted to the location of this collection, it was literally shocking to see the amount of pieces in this collection. It was huge to say the least. There were pieces that were so beautiful, that it was hard to imagine the hands of the past reaching out through time, and handing these masterpieces to us.

The man had collected these pieces over a seventy year period of his life. He is a fine man and his family are warm country folks. He worked hard to support his family; his honesty was clear and solid. Yet, at the end of the examination, I had to inform him that nearly all the very valuable pieces, he had collected and paid for, were fakes. They were modern day replicas that were made by a band of thieves who had a front man. This front man had gained the confidence of this poor fellow over a long period of time, and, then began to sell him these fraudulent pieces, for some very large amounts.

The family was both devastated and angry. It was a tragedy so deep that while I was at my hotel room I wept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the

I will not divulge the names or locations, as it would be more of a burden on this unfortunate family, than they are already carrying.

Last year, I was called upon to authenticate a very large Native American collection. Some people had valued it at just under a million dollars. When I arrived and was escorted to the location of this collection, it was literally shocking to see the amount of pieces in this collection. It was huge to say the least. There were pieces that were so beautiful, that it was hard to imagine the hands of the past reaching out through time, and handing these masterpieces to us.

The man had collected these pieces over a seventy year period of his life. He is a fine man and his family are warm country folks. He worked hard to support his family; his honesty was clear and solid. Yet, at the end of the examination, I had to inform him that nearly all the very valuable pieces, he had collected and paid for, were fakes. They were modern day replicas that were made by a band of thieves who had a front man. This front man had gained the confidence of this poor fellow over a long period of time, and, then began to sell him these fraudulent pieces, for some very large amounts.

The family was both devastated and angry. It was a tragedy so deep that while I was at my hotel room I wept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the

enty year period of his life. He is a fine man and his family are warm country folks. He worked hard to support his family; his honesty was clear and solid. Yet, at the end of the examination, I had to inform him that nearly all the very valuable pieces, he had collected and paid for, were fakes. They were modern day replicas that were made by a band of thieves who had a front man. This front man had gained the confidence of this poor fellow over a long period of time, and, then began to sell him these fraudulent pieces, for some very large amounts.

The family was both devastated and angry. It was a tragedy so deep that while I was at my hotel room I wept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the

ept for his anguish. It was overwhelming to think that this incredibly trusting man had been taken advantage, by some ruthless bandits. People with no souls or conscience, who can deceive and cheat in the name of financial gain.

Collectors, be on guard, there are many fine authenticators, who try to defeat these horrible people, who perpetrate theft by deception. There are also a number of forgers, who have a great motivation for money, who can and have deceived even the best authenticators. Do your homework, and remember this, if it just doesn’t seem right somewhere inside your heart and mind, don’t buy it. You’ll probably be glad you didn’t in the end.