Fake Antiqities - The Plus Side

[marsvigilia]

A lot of people have a problem with fake antiquities. But look at it this way:

1. Every person who buys a fake antiquity, is one less person who buys a real archaeological object pillaged from a site.

2. Every person involved in manufacturing and distributing fake antiquities for the retail market, is one less person pillaging actual archaeological sites.

Well, it's a thought anyway.

[Cornelius Quintus]

Ave Tony,

interesting kind of logic – I’ll try:

1. Every Dollar/Euro spent on fakes is one less Dollar/Euro spent on drugs.

2. Every Person holding a fake in his hands is one less person able to write spam posts that moment.

3. Every original find is one less faked find – Oops. I’m puzzled. Is that good or bad news, now? hock: :lol:

[marsvigilia]

Well I do see your point. However while from an economics perspective fakes are a close substitute for "reals", I don't think the same can be said for drugs or spam. As a close substitute, the more fakes are on the market the lower the market price for "reals". The lower the market price for "reals", the less incentive to pillage.

What we need to do is flood the market with fakes that are somehow identifiable by true experts but not by the general public. Then people can satisfy their desire for antiquities without disrupting true archeology. Of course some people may realize that 99 out of 100 are fakes, and will abandon their interest entirely. This accomplishes the same end.

It just makes no sense to me to say:
1. People shouldn't buy pillaged antiquities.
2. But for those who do, we should protect them from being defrauded.

[Cornelius Quintus]

Ave Tony,

right, on a first glance, original and fake seem to be substitutes. But really - they are not. Perhaps a well made fake is comparable to a well made replica in the eyes of an interested buyer.

People who collect genuine artefacts / antiquities want ‘the real stuff’. A feeling of being connected to the past. The chance to have found a valuable treasure. Something which is genuine, reliable and long-lasting in our fast changing world. They want not the best reproduction or reconstruction. They want an original.

As far as low budged collectors suppose the will get originals on eBay, they will buy. Otherwise, the will do what wealthy collectors always do: pay more to be sure to get the right stuff. Booming fakes will produce booming expert’s reports.

It’s like a Ferrari sports car. You might built better and cheaper red sports cars. But they never will have the nimbus of a Ferrari ;-) )

Last thought: You know collectors. Always hungry for more to feed the monster. Therefore a fake will not fill the one-and-only original’s place in the collection. It will just be one of a kind – in an endless line of doublets which also are ‘must have's’.

To make a long story short, in my eyes fakes are no close substitutes for originals and even when they won’t satisfy the collector’s hunger for more.

I rather fear lots of low budged originals being dumped or destroyed by ignorant people, who judge them as another ‘well known’ fake-junk and not worthy to keep… :wink:

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Marsvigilia:

Not exactly as you thinks. The people who pillages sites and those who made fakes are oftenly the same people.

Every "faker" its a pillager. Every fake are brother of a pillaged item.

[Caius Fabius]

I collect original Slaveys :lol: