You are scrounging around in a flea market and need free antique identification advice. Is it an antique? Is it worth buying? These antique identification tips will help you make a purchasing decision.

Antique Identification Tips

• Bring a loupe or a magnifying glass with you wherever you go. A loupe can help you look for the fine work that indicates handmade antiques. A loupe can also help you determine if a silver piece is sterling or plated and to check for manufacturers marks on jewelry.
• If you are looking at furniture, check out any nails. Nails made before around 1880 were handmade and usually square, unlike today’s round-headed nails. After about 1880, nails were also more uniform in appearance due to mass production.
• In order to test for Bakelite, put a dab of semi-chrome polish on a clean, white cloth. Rub the piece. If the dab on the cloth turns yellow, you have Bakelite.
• To help tell the difference between an authentic map and an antique map, look at the map through a loupe. If it is a photographic reproduction, you will see the tell-tale dots on the print. In addition, a map may be antique if it has a fold down the middle; most old maps were made to take up two pages in a book or atlas.
• If you are looking at toy trains, examine the gauge, or width of the train track, on which the train was supposed to be used. Trains or tracks with “0” gauge were most likely made after the 1930s. Earlier 20^th century trains typically had gauges of 2 1/8 inches, or a “standard” gauge.
• If you are looking at cut glass, don’t just look at the piece. Touch it. You are more likely to feel small chips than to see them. Pay particular attention to rims and edges.
• Your best bet to finding an antique is to get an education. Learn as much as you can about the types of antiques that you like. Bring reference books with you in your car so that you can use them if you need them. Ask questions. An informed buyer is a smart buyer.