Article about: I checked and could not find a thread specifically dealing with fake Death Cards so I thought I would post this one I acquired yesterday for Johann Eichinger. I recently put a video out on Y
I checked and could not find a thread specifically dealing with fake Death Cards so I thought I would post this one I acquired yesterday for Johann Eichinger.
I recently put a video out on Youtube on some tells for fake cards, so now that I've acquired one I thought it would be beneficial to record that information here as well. First we will take a look at the letters. This first photo is a close up of the fake card:
You can see how blurry the edge of the lettering appears, as well as the odd, almost "stepped" pattern on the cross. Admittedly I don't know much about how modern printers work, but I have not been able to find a similar pattern on the 100+ other cards I currently have scanned. Below is an example of what this should look like:
Note the sharp edges on both the lettering and the cross. It appears that with a standard modern printer it is incredibly difficult to match the sharpness of the old block style printing.
The photos on these cards are printed with a two-tone method which is instantly recognizable. The fake photograph is on the left, with a real comparison on the right:
You can instantly see that on the original photo, the pattern from the printing process is consistent across the entire print, while it fades to near non-existence on the fake. Additionally, the fake doesn't have the spots of extra ink like you will often see on period cards. The back plate is a similar print, and the above analysis holds true for that as well. Once again, the fake is on the left and the original is on the right:
Where there is one fake there is bound to be more, so I would advise extreme caution if you see this card for sale. If you have an example in your collection, I recommend verifying whether or not it is authentic.
I hope this can be a helpful guide for my fellow card collectors. If you identify any fakes in your collection I would be interested in seeing them as well.
Interesting, while I don't collect these, I have never seen one with this type of religious iconography. It looks more Orthodox than Catholic and certainly not Protestant
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Indeed. Luckily most cards aren't worth faking, but when it comes to more desirable and valuable pieces like these there's always someone hoping to make money.
The variety of religious backings to these cards is really something and they come in all manner of styles and subjects. They often get overlooked since the information about the solider is of more interest to us, but I've been slowly doing more work on documenting the various makers and backings I've identified.
You are correct in that most death cards are from a Catholic background. They have a long tradition throughout the Catholic world, and as most Protestant religions do not believe in praying for the dead, these pieces never really gained ground amongst other Christian religions.
I don't collect death cards, but own a couple and have owned a few more that have come and gone in my collecting travels.
That method is a super definitive test. Although to perform the scanner/printer test, one would have to have the card at home in their possession. Good that it is at least somewhat detectable with a loupe, which I do take with me to shows. I would agree that most death cards are not monetarily worth it to produce fakes. However, I thought that about black wound badges 30 years ago and here we are today...
Todd
Former U.S. Army Tanker.
"Best job I ever had."
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