Fakes getting fancier?

From engraved lettering to raised Letters now .Hmmmmm Fancy

http://cgi.ebay.com/CALIFORNIA-BALL-CHA ... dZViewItem

Yeah, I have seen a TON of these on eBay and they ALWAYS sell! =O

The fakes are getting much better, especially the padlocks. I bought a really nice Keen Kutter padlock last year, only to find out that it was a fake. I was fully aware that there were fake Keen Kutters and thought I knew every trick in the book on telling them apart.....I was wrong! However, I laughed it off and gave the maker kudos for a job well done. I paid a fair price for the lock (even as a fake) and it now resides on one of my display boards. I think that it has fooled many experienced lock collectors and it will continue to do so as long as I keep bringing it to lock show after lock show. Here are some pics:



The fake one is the one with the relief painted red. There is one sure-fire way to tell this type of fake from the real one. Look at the back of the lock.....there is a long pointed relief section around and under the keyway on the original (compare the two back view pictures to see what I mean). Another way to tell them apart is patent date. There is a patent date stamped into the face of the original; that date does not appear on the face of the fake lock.

Also, the key to the fake lock is bigger and thicker than the original, but still sports the KK logo shape in the bow, like the original (I do not have an original key to show the comparasin). Pretty good for a fake!

A little off the handcuff/restraint topic, but I think there are several lock collectors here that might find the info and pics interesting. =)

Cheers, Mike

From engraved lettering to raised Letters now .Hmmmmm Fancy

http://cgi.ebay.com/CALIFORNIA-BALL-CHA ... dZViewItem

Hello all

Alcatraz Ball & Chain......That's the best yet !! ! ! Still it makes you wonder what an authentic one would sell for .

BEWARE - ebay is auctioning an awful lot of this garbage, Cuffs (mostly India made darbies) , Ball & chains, Nippers , even Locks w/ Small brass lables brazed on saying Alcatraz , cell # 201 etc.

BEWARE - of this Crap ....this is the kind of S--T that gives the collecting industry a bad taste.

Still after a vacation in Paris last year I found there does seem to be a demand or at least a strange curiosity towards the fake so much so there is evena museum dedicated towards the forgery (a nice way of saying FAKE) of Great art masterpeices

Here in NY they have passed a new Law that anyone caught Drinking & Driving loose there vechicle then have there name & address published in a Newspaper , and the NYPD have began closing down bussiness selling forged handbags & confascating everything ...Hmm maybe the same could be done with the restraint forgers ......just a thought.


Best

ML

From engraved lettering to raised Letters now .Hmmmmm Fancy

http://cgi.ebay.com/CALIFORNIA-BALL-CHA ... dZViewItem

Well, for all the reference books and such out there, it seems there is no substitute for common sense when it comes to spotting fakes.

A ball and chain marked as belonging to Alcatraz Prison? Why bother to mark it as such; after all, who is going to steal the thing?

Why use a ball and chain in the first place? To prevent an escape-risk prisoner from sneaking away. Well, Alcatraz Prison was on an island, surrounded by shark-infested waters with really nasty currents making swimming to shore a fatal exercise in futility. The prison's geography made it virtually escape proof, so why in the world shackle up a prisoner to a ball and chain? This would be about as expedient as putting a blindfold on a blind man before standing him up in front of a firing squad.

But, the thing might make a good doorstop and could be a lot of fun at parties. And perhaps also a reminder of the old adage: The most plentiful substance in the universe is hydrogen; the second most plentiful is stupidity.

Franklin

From engraved lettering to raised Letters now .Hmmmmm Fancy

http://cgi.ebay.com/CALIFORNIA-BALL-CHA ... dZViewItem

Most of the fake "Negro Woman Or Child Only" and similar genuine slave irons come from an outfit called Great Western Trading Company. They also have a great selection of brass plaques, Negro salt & pepper shakers and similar tacky "memorabilia." Some of it is grotesque, some quite nice. You can buy it by the crateload.

I don't have their current catalog, but I'd bet lunch the Alcatraz ball and chain is theirs.

I haven't been able to find them on line. They're an old-style firm who deals from paper catalogs.

There are several import wholesalers that have the plain-jane Indian darbies. They wholesale for about ten bucks a copy. Buy a containerload, and I bet you could cut a lot off that.