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Dropped $75 on a so called rare 1847 map print from a flea market in Tulsa and it turned out to be a rest stop reprint
I got excited because the paper felt old and the border showed a weird little chunk of land labeled "Indian Territory" before it got split up. Paid the guy $75 cash without even checking the back, rookie move. Got home and held it to a window, and the print pattern was way too clean for something from 1847, plus the whole thing was 11x17 which is just a standard frame size. Did some digging online and found the exact same image selling as a souvenir reprint for $8 at a gift shop near the Arkansas line. Anybody got a good trick for spotting these modern reprints before I hand over cash again?
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fiona_reed10d ago
Been there, and it stings for weeks. The paper trick that gets me every time is the feel of it, because old paper is soft and slightly fuzzy while reprints are slick and stiff, like a new dollar bill. Take a flashlight and look at the surface at a low angle, since a real old print shows uneven ink and little dots of texture while a modern one looks flat and even. Check the edges too, because hand cut or rough edges from that era almost never come out perfectly straight, and 11x17 is a dead giveaway since nobody was printing in that size in 1847. Also flip it over, because a lot of those gift shop copies have a faint barcode or a tiny copyright line hiding near the bottom. Next time ask the seller to let you hold it up to the light before money changes hands, and if they get weird about it, walk.
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