Fakes and Scoundrels
Fakes and Scoundrels
By Gary Hendershott
Every collector, museum curator, and historian needs this book. Fakes and Scoundrels is the most comprehensive reference available on forgery detection and authentication across every major category of historical collecting — written by someone who has seen the fakes firsthand, handled the genuine articles, and spent fifty years learning the difference.
The book covers the full landscape of the problem: how forgeries are manufactured, how they enter the market, how they survive auction scrutiny, and how a careful buyer can identify them. No category is left untouched — from firearms and edged weapons to presidential autographs, paintings, coins, and military memorabilia.
“Every area of collecting has its fakes. The auction game, insurance frauds, bank frauds, fake appraisals, theft and repatriation — the traps are everywhere, and most collectors don’t know they’re in one until it’s too late.”Inquire About the Book
What It Covers
Firearms & Edged Weapons
Colt revolvers, Civil War swords, presentation pieces — how the most commonly faked categories are identified, and what a genuine provenance looks like.
Autographs & Documents
Presidential signatures, military commissions, historical letters — how secretarial signatures, rubber stamps, and outright forgeries have fooled generations of collectors.
Paintings & Fine Art
From Gilbert Stuart copies to forged Taos masters — how the art market absorbs fakes and what technical examination reveals.
The Auction Game
How auction houses handle provenance, the limits of their guarantees, and what buyers need to know before bidding on important pieces.
Insurance & Bank Frauds
The schemes built around overvalued or fabricated collections — and the real-world cases that illustrate how they work.
Theft & Repatriation
The tangled intersection of stolen cultural property, international law, and the private market — and how buyers can protect themselves.
Fifty Years of Firsthand Experience
Gary Hendershott began collecting at eleven years old and spent five decades at the center of the American historical artifacts market — buying, researching, and authenticating objects from the Civil War, the Old West, the ancient world, and beyond. Fakes and Scoundrels is the distillation of everything he learned.
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