Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Fake porcelain signs

Hi everyone, I have several questions is it safe to assume that if a porcelain sign is a repop that there would be at least one floating around for sale some where in the market? If a porcelain sign has the layering effect meaning white porcelain then the other colors on top of the white where it is obvious by looking at the sign is it old? And last question where there some small porcelain sign makers that did not do that well of a finish on some of the smaller company signs? Thanks for any help

Don, IMO there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to evaluating a sign's authenticity. Here are my responses to your questions:

1. It's not a bad idea to search for other examples that are currently for sale. For example, if ebay is flooded with a particular sign at low prices, probably a red flag. But I definitely would not label a sign as authentic just because I can't find another currently on the market.
2. I can go online and find numerous examples of fake porcelain signs showing a white base layer.
3. IMO the small original porcelain signs were made with the same quality as larger ones, maybe even better in many cases. Look at all of the small gas pump plates that were made with intricate details and high quality craftsmanship.

All I can say is it takes a lot of time, experience and research before you can tell a fake from the real deal. Another good resource is to compare signs with the same ones that sold in reputable auction that only sell real signs, such as Richmond Auctions, Morphy’s and Millers. These company’s can let in a few fakes once on a while, but they are very vigilant. If they say a sign is old and original, then it most likely is. Compare those that have sold to ones you plan on buying.

In addition good shelving or no shelving will not determine if a sign is real or fake. There are real signs with heavy shelving and there are real signs with almost no shelving. And that goes for fakes too.

The only thing that may help with the white base layer that you mentioned, is if a sign has NO white anywhere on it , in the graphics or the background, (example a red and yellow shell sign) and it is chipped, there should be no white as a base layer on the chip. For example, an original chipped shell sign will never show white. A fake go either way.