A BAD FAKE

We show this as an example of a bad forgery or fake as recently sold on the internet.

Dexterity puzzles are highly collectable and those with a "black interest" including politically incorrect examples from the past attract particularly high bids in internet auctions.

This is pretending to be a 1932 antique but close inspection reveals it to be a very bad forgery.

Caveat Emptor

The top is plastic but would have been glass had it been made in 1932.

The image in the bottom is not worn out by old age but is actually a modern print or photocopy enlarged so that is fuzzy. If you remove the lid you can see that it has been stuck onto modern cardboard.

Why are the balls so rusty when the tin showing through the crisp eye holes is shiny and new. Long term rusty balls would have marked a "track" around the outside edge of the image; but there is no track.

See how the rust has not been caused by an even dampness but has obviously been created by the random application of a chemical with a brush or stick.

The label on the back has crisp square edges with no signs of wear. Some of the typeface used is a modern font. The "dirt" has been applied with Photoshop or similar software.

The "rust" and marks on the label do not match up with the marks on the tin to which it is applied.

Finally the forger has added the joke line to the label!