Overheard a guy at the museum gift shop say 'those Roman coins could be from a gas station'

Made me wonder how many fake artifacts people actually buy from those little gift shops, like is there a whole underground market for replica coins that trick even the pros, has anyone else found a fake at a flea market?

4 comments

4 Comments

mark_chen621d ago

Reminds me of that time I was at a yard sale in Ohio and this old guy was selling a bunch of "ancient" arrowheads. Said they were from a dig site out west. Bought a couple for five bucks each. Turns out they were just painted rocks from someone's driveway, the paint was chipping off on the edges. Never trust a guy with a folding table full of history, you know?

zara_sanchez1d ago

Oh I believe it. A buddy of mine bought a "civil war sword" from a flea market outside Nashville. Guy swore it was genuine, had a whole story about a plantation and everything. Paid a hundred bucks for it. He took it to a local museum for appraisal just for fun, and they told him it was a reproduction from the 1970s. The blade even had a tiny stamp on the hilt that said "Taiwan" if you looked close enough. He still keeps it on his wall though, says it's a good reminder that if a deal sounds too good to be true, you're probably just buying someone's garbage.

cole_murphy1d ago

Yeah, the 'Taiwan' stamp kind of gives it away. Guess the Confederates outsourced their sword production in the 1860s.

alice9281d ago

Totally feel your pain on that one. It's wild how bold some people get with the fake relics, spinning whole stories to move junk. At least your buddy got a funny story and a lesson out of it, even if the sword isn't real.