My first skull pin

[Captcrunch227]

Hello all,

I recently purchased my first Skull pin after doing some research from the authentic skulls posted here on the site.

My question, did I assess correctly? I'm told this was a find from near Warsaw while hunting for relics.

My second question, looking at the aged look of the pin (wear, rust, dirty, etc.) Is it possible to fake such an item into this condition? I know it could be done, but how often to worn out looking fakes pop up?

Thank you all for any help you can provide

[rbminis]

Hello and welcome to the forum!
As we do not allow the use of outside photo hosting sites here, I have taken the liberty of saving your photos and uploading them directly to the forum server.
If you would like to post any more photos, please use the method shown in this thread.
Visual Guide to Upload Photos

Now for your 2nd question, "My second question, looking at the aged look of the pin (wear, rust, dirty, etc.) Is it possible to fake such an item into this condition?"
They do it all of the time and some even worse than this.
That being said, I am not really a fan of the example you have posted but you should wait for other opinions.
Ralph.

[Captcrunch227]

Thank you very much! I've lurked around here countless times and thought it would be good to just go ahead and join.

My apologies on the photo mishap. I don't have a computer and only have an iPhone and when starting the new post I didn't see any tabs to upload anything. I may have looked right over it though. Regardless, my apologies and many many thanks for fixing my mistake.

With something that looks in this condition (no marks or anything visible on the back) is it possible to be certain on the authenticity? The markings aren't exactly crisp or sharp due to age, and the posts look good I think (although there aren't very many pictures of the back of real skulls)

[rbminis]

To me, it's more about the overall shape of the skull. This may purport to be some form of variant, I don't know.
Here is one example, front and reverse, from my collection.
I am sure that there are other members that would be willing to post the reverse of some of their skulls for you to compare.
Ralph.

[CBH]

Here is mine.

[carlsson1982]

It is a fake that has been chemically aged, shape and pins are wrong. The "ground-dug" fakes do exist.

[Arran]

I agree with Carlsson- a fake skull that has been artificially aged...

[Captcrunch227]

Couple of questions.

Does anyone have a photo of any of the pins with fake rust? All the photos I've seen of chemically faked rust, the rust has a much darker color than this one.

Secondly, comparing these 2, is the shape difference between the two mainly where there are corners? It would make sense to a degree that IF it was indeed buried for 70 years, that the curves and corners would lose their sharpness and the overall shape would dull right?

[Arran]

I believe the particular copy skull you show is made of aluminum, as are the pins, so it will not rust, only corrode. If you search around, you can find an example of your skull before it had been aged, and you'll be able to see the similarities. The 2 skulls you show were never the same shape to begin with. If someone has a fake skull they're trying to sell, it is not uncommon to age it to the point that the "give-aways" are no longer visible. Its important to know the characteristics of each maker- what material was used for pins? How were they attached? etc. etc.

[Captcrunch227]

Ahhh corrosion, that's not something I had thought to look into. I was just looking for artificial rusting. Thanks for your reply that was really helpful information