Rogues Gallery of Fakes

[Del.Monte]

In the other place I started a thread - Railwayana Rogues Gallery - so this time I'm broadening the scope to include all fakes including enamel signs, coins, railwayana and anything else that people come across. Repro is something I dislike but it's generally legal if sold as such, however in the world of railwayana, coins and signs, in particular, the sheer volume of stuff being passed off as genuine is staggering.

There's a huge difference in the quality of fakes being produced with those in the area of coin collecting being quite sophisticated and more difficult to spot, while those in the 'enamel' sign and railwayana field are usually easy to spot by anybody with a little knowledge. However, when a fake fetches big money it really rankles.

Today's example, a large cast iron sign purporting to be from the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway would not pass muster with most railway enthusiasts but somebody got caught with it at auction last week - €320 plus fees plus 23% commission for something worth no more than the scrap value of a few kgs of cast iron.



This is a well known fake/repro and is appearing everywhere - the most obvious giveaway here is that the company secretary's name is wrong and belongs to that of the Great Southern & Western Railway. Not too mention the main text block is also from a GS&WR sign.

If it were the genuine article it could fetch £1500/2000 on the UK market

The identical sign is available on DoneDeal at the moment for €65 - about €64.50 more than it's worth but nicely painted and not being advertised as genuine.

[Wibbs]

Pretty much everything on ebay and the like sold as ancient Greek, Roman or Egyptian is fake as feck. Antiquities in general are awash with fakers.

[kadman]

Loads of classic cars on donedeal too may not be what they seem.

Thats why the sale of classic log books is flourishing. You see many registered classics
with different make logbooks, its hilarious, and if you dont check before you buy.
You can get badly ripped off when you go to tax your pride and joy 64 minor, and find ou the reg number relates to a 58 tractor.

[Del.Monte]

Even someone like myself who has been collecting for 40+ years can occasionally be had, and I won a copy of a MGWR sign, similar to the one below, at a Northern Ireland auction. It was pre-pandemic, but physical viewing was not practical due to the distance from my home, so I had to rely on a poor (dark) image on the online catalogue. I had my doubts about its authenticity and didn't pay much for it. I realised my mistake before I even received my purchase in the post when an identical sign appeared at another Northern Ireland auction. If I had been able to physically view the sign I would have immediately known it was a repro as I have owned the authentic item in the past. A salutary lesson learnt and I have since donated the offending item to a friend who knows it's not the real thing.


The one featured above is available on DoneDeal for €20 and, in fairness, is not advertised as an original. However, it's when they reach salerooms that problems start - whether due to genuine ignorance by the auctioneer or a devil-may-care attitude.

[Del.Monte]

Another piece of junk for sale in an NI saleroom next week. The effort needed to add all those extra letters for a non-existent railway company is mind blowing. Value = nil.

[Del.Monte]

Waterford & Tramore Railway gate sign sold at Waterford City Auction Rooms today.

It's always nice when the authentic item turns up in a general sale and in pre-internet days this could have been a nice little earner for me. I checked with the auctioneers regarding the provenance and everything checked out on that front and I satisfied myself that it was the real thing - all I had to do now was keep my fingers crossed that nobody else had spotted it. However, it was not to be and the ultra rare sign was knocked out to an internet bidder for €320. An identical sign sold in the UK a few years back for £2,800 but these days I have a limited gambling budget.

There would not have been many other gate signs on the line which was only just over seven miles long - hence its scarcity.



Left to right: the sign which sold today for €320 and on the right the one sold in the UK for £2,800 some years ago.

[Del.Monte]

I spotted this yoke on DoneDeal yesterday. A mere €160 but for what? Not sure how to describe it but it's not technically a fake as such a sign never existed in the past. It appears to have been given the weathering treatment.....

[490808]

Report the seller for stealing a heritage sign of great importance from an ancient monument

[Del.Monte]

Another beaut on DoneDeal - from the usual source in County Limerick. Only €48 plus p+p/courier but still about €48 more than it's worth.

[BadaBing]

I don’t see the harm, these type of signs will be sold to Irish pub owners in foreign lands, without fail you will see these type of signs on the wall. No big deal.

[490808]

I don’t see the harm, these type of signs will be sold to Irish pub owners in foreign lands, without fail you will see these type of signs on the wall. No big deal.

The big deal is that they are sold in a way that tricks people into thinking they are original. They also spoil the market for the genuine items.

[Del.Monte]

A real beauty spotted on eBay last night and priced at €300 it must be being sold as the genuine article - not that such a sign ever existed. Buyer beware.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203224674396 ... %7Ciid%3A1

[Del.Monte]

Spotted on DoneDeal today - not even a fake but an entirely new creation? Or could it be from the now defunct Tralee/Blennerville steam railway? Anyway, it can be yours for just €250.

[BrianD3]

Pillar/postboxes are another one - reproductions of old P&T and pre independence boxes. I'm not sure if they are sold as originals, either way they are as tacky as hell and I dislike seeing them at people's houses (being used for delivered post obviously)

I looked on DD there and there seem to be a lot of them being sold from Limerick.

[Del.Monte]

I have been in a quandary the last couple of days wondering whether to bid or not on a potentially very rare and valuable sign coming up at auction. Today was the day and I decided to pull back and let someone else have the sign for just €80 - great for them if it's the genuine article which could be worth £1,500 plus in a UK railwayana auction or is it yet another worthless, if well made, replica.

There would have been very few of these signs on the Tralee & Dingle Railway and those that there were would have been very weathered after sixty years exposed to salty Atlantic winds. That said, the black and white photo of one at Castlegregory in 1954 seems to indicate that at least one was in fairly good nick...

Closer examination of the auction sign shows slight differences on two of the letters but that apart it's a damn good fake compared to any others that I have seen - and I have never seen this T & D L R sign appear before. The grey residue (?) on one side also makes me think that it could be a recent casting. There's a crude repro in circulation but a blind man on a galloping horse would spot it.

Did I do well to keep away or have I missed out on a big pay day?

[Fratello]

"New one" has a nice countersunk hole at 4 corners while the other has two diagonal holes towards the centre.
I'd say fake.