Help and Frequently Asked Questions

Authenticity

Unfortunately, the forgery of artifacts is a constant concern for those
dealing in antiquities, as well as for collectors. This was the case even in ancient
times: A certain Menodotos of Rhodes was famous for passing off a forgery of the Apollo of Piombino to a gullible Roman collector, claiming it was a work of a much earlier period. Now, of course, this "forgery" would, itself, be considered a collectable!

Although most forgeries are easily detected, it is nevertheless possible
that an occasional piece may slip through. If you ever have reason to believe one of
our pieces is a forgery, simply return it and you will get your money
back, no questions asked.

And if you can provide us with your reasons for
believing the piece to be a forgery, we can then use the information
to help track down those responsible. Forgers harm our business, and it is
in everyone's best interest that they are found and stamped out.

Why do you sometimes provide alternative identifications of your pieces?

The identification of ancient jewelry is a notoriously complicated task. A
palm or a peacock is often a Christian symbol, yet both also appear on pagan
jewelry.

In fact, the vast majority of Christian symbols were inherited from the Greeks and Romans. Even a cross is not necessarily a Christian symbol! It may be a Roman ten (X), signifying the tenth legion, or simply a decorative motif.

In many cases, the identification of an artifact is straightforward. But in the
case of unique or problematic pieces, we supply several identifications in an
attempt to be honest with our customers and to offer an insight into the
complexities of ancient society.

Auctions

The earliest auctions were held by the victorious army which would gather
the spoils from the fallen and auction them to the winning army. We are
continuing in this grand tradition by listing hundreds of ancient items weekly on Bay .

Grading

This is the biggest area of contention and we wish to explain just a little
about it. Unless it is absolutely necessary (i.e., in the case of coins ) we
try and stay away from grading such as "Good", "Fine", "Very Fine" and
"Extremely Fine."

We attempt to provide an accurate, honest description of the piece, along with a picture, so that the buyer can judge for him or herself. If the picture is not reflective of the piece (and sometimes technology does let us down) then this will be stated in the listing.

It is in our interest to provide accurate descriptions, and since we don't want to misrepresent our items, we are actually a little on the conservative side with grading. If a piece has a chink out of it, we will say so, rather than ignoring it. To the best of our ability we try to be consistent with grading but, ultimately, it is subjective.

Since there is no objective grading system, we must attempt to grade according to our own beliefs and our experience against other similar pieces. In this case, experience is the best teacher. We attempt to grade by using only simple steps and our descriptions reflect only the appearance of the piece.

Obviously with ancient pieces the criteria by which they are judged is vastly different from judging modern pieces. Factors such as patina (the colorful oxidation of the metal) and even wear can add to an object's appeal.

This again is subjective. Some collectors appreciate a deep green patina on ancient bronze pieces, while others prefer their artifacts to look as though they have just been made. Which opinion more closely matches your own is one that you as a collector will have to make yourself.