Hey folks - since writing my blog entry back in 2011 on fake tintypes, it has become the go-to reference on fake tins. I routinely receive inquires asking me to help buyers figure out if their tintypes are fakes or not.
One thing I'd like to note is - folks usually ask me after they have purchased the tin! The time to really be critical is before making that buy. After the money has changed hands the victim-buyer is usually in a sort of sad state of really hoping the tin is real. And it's hard to convey the bad news although usually quite easy to figure out that the tin is a fake.
But here is a trick for you. Before buying that incredibly iconic image, that image that really should be in a museum or some incredible, well-known private collection - use Google to see if it already is!
A recent inquiry concerned the below tin. The buyer asked if real and seemed very hopeful that it is the real thing.
One thing I'd like to note is - folks usually ask me after they have purchased the tin! The time to really be critical is before making that buy. After the money has changed hands the victim-buyer is usually in a sort of sad state of really hoping the tin is real. And it's hard to convey the bad news although usually quite easy to figure out that the tin is a fake.
But here is a trick for you. Before buying that incredibly iconic image, that image that really should be in a museum or some incredible, well-known private collection - use Google to see if it already is!
A recent inquiry concerned the below tin. The buyer asked if real and seemed very hopeful that it is the real thing.
My reply: " I don't like it. Too bright and clean. Strange flecks across it look odd, too. Green is also concerning. It is so much about gut reaction to these. If you bought this for anywhere under $2k or so I'd bet it is a fake. Have you had it out of the preserver? I'd bet it is a fake applied to a legit tin, since the back looks OK, tho possibly later and not CW era. Take it out and see if it is overlayed on something else..."
But I also took a second to do something else. I entered into Google Images "black civil war soldier family" like so:
And sure enough, there is the image. See it there in the upper right. I clicked it, went to the site, and saw that it is indeed in the Library of Congress. Mystery solved. This may not always work on every tin, but when it may be fake, and seems waaaaaaaaaaay too good to be true in terms of price, take a quick look around to see if you can find the faker's source for the image.
NOTE: Reader Alan Griffiths, proprietor of the fantastic Luminous Lint, recommends using TinEye, which is a program that will search the Web for other examples of any image you select. Pretty neat!
Another way to spot a fake tintype is look at the back. If it's silver, it's aluminum and a fake. If painted black, but still not sure, stick a magnet on it, if it's doesn't stick, aluminum.
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