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That supposed Viking coin I bought for $50 turned out to be a 19th century fake
I picked it up at a flea market in Duluth last summer, thinking I'd scored a bargain on a real Norse artifact. Took it to a university lab for carbon dating and they came back saying it was cast iron with modern tool marks (oops). Has anyone else had a 'too good to be true' find that got busted by science?
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karencampbell1mo ago
LOL that whole "carbon dating on cast iron" thing is a classic mistake. I actually read an article somewhere about how people bring in fake artifacts all the time thinking theyre real. One guy tried to pass off a 1950s toy as ancient roman and the lab had to be like "uh no thats just painted lead." Sorry your viking coin turned out to be a flea market special but hey at least you didn't pay thousands for it. The science always catches up to these things eventually.
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Bought a "civil war cavalry sword" from a pawn shop for 300 bucks once. Felt great about it until I noticed the engravings were done with a modern dremel tool. I took it to a local blacksmith who works with old metal and he pointed out the steel was way too clean and even to be pre-1900s. Now I run everything by him first before buying, costs me a six pack but saves me from getting burned.
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morgan_king361mo ago
Next time get a cheap magnet first, iron fakes always stick and real stuff usually doesnt.
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