Case Study: A Dealer’s Wishful Thinking and the Value of a Second Opinion
By Perry M. Frohne At the recent Chicago Civil War show, I was approached by an experienced collector looking for my opinion on a carte de visite. The image was supposedly
Category: Fakes Forgeries and Frauds
The Must-Have Piece of Fake Detection Equipment
By Perry M. Frohne The different tools needed to detect fakes and frauds in old photography are not expensive to buy and are easy to use. These specialized tools come
Results: Fake Radar Contest
By Perry M. Frohne In this column, I will cover each of the five images from last issue’s fake radar contest, explain why they were real or fake, and then
Fake Radar Contest
By Perry M. Frohne Time to put your Fake Radar to the test. Displayed here are five cartes de visite. Your challenge is to figure out whether each one is
New Technology + New Equipment = Better Fakes
By Perry M. Frohne I’ve previously mentioned how each upgrade in technology and equipment used to improve our lives also produces a new wave of technically enhanced fakes. I have
Confederate Remounts
By Perry M. Frohne In the last issue of MI, I uncovered the diabolical practice of remounting Union albumens. I highly recommend you re-read that column before starting this one.
Little-Known Fraud: The Remounted Albumen
This carte de visite fraud is one most collectors have likely never heard of—the remounted albumen. Sadly, this is a fairly common practice, and one you need to learn to
Bogus Modern Ink Identifications
I have very ill feelings—to put it mildly—for those who have brought this next scourge upon the Civil War CDV collecting market. As if it isn’t already hard enough to
Rembrandt You Are Not, Sir!
By Perry Frohne It is time we uncover the shenanigans collectors can run into when collecting Civil War hard images. I define “hard image” for the purpose of this column
The Weaponization of Technology and Psychology
By Perry Frohne Over the past few decades, 19th-century photography has experienced only minor amateur attacks from those intent on defrauding its collecting community. Thankfully these fakes are fairly easy