Antique Identifier

Antique Identification Guides

Marks, hallmarks, eras and tell-tale details — practical identification guides from the team behind the Antique Identifier app.

100 guides · About the app

• Are Antiques Still Worth Anything? An Honest Market Report

  'Nobody wants brown furniture' meets 'record Tiffany prices' — both true. What actually collapsed, what quietly boomed, and how to think abo

  3 min read

• Fake Marks and Forged Signatures: The Con Artist's Toolkit, Exposed

  Stamped swords, applied labels, 'signed' bronzes, tea-stained documents — how marks get forged across every category, and the universal cohe

  3 min read

• Milk Glass Identification: Fenton, Westmoreland and the Age Tells

  Opaque white glass spans 400 years and a thousand reproductions. Hobnail vs lattice patterns, maker marks, the fire-and-ring tests, and whic

  2 min read

• Fenton Glass Marks and Dating: From Unmarked to Oval Logo

  America's longest-running art glass house marked almost nothing for 65 years — then dated everything. The logo timeline, label archaeology,

  3 min read

• Murano Glass Identification: Real Venetian vs the World's Imitations

  Sommerso depths, millefiori gardens, aventurine sparkle — and an ocean of 'Murano-style' imports. Labels, techniques, pontils and the tells

  3 min read

• Antique Bottle Identification: Seams, Pontils and the Dating Ladder

  Dig-site staple, dump-find favorite — bottles date themselves by manufacture. The seam-height ladder, pontil scars, color rarity and the cat

  3 min read

• RS Prussia Marks: The Red Wreath Everyone Fakes

  Reinhold Schlegelmilch's translucent porcelain built a fierce collecting cult — and the most counterfeited red mark in German china. Reading

  3 min read

• Sèvres Marks: Interlaced Ls, Date Letters and an Ocean of 'Sèvres-Style'

  The French royal factory's mark is the most borrowed in ceramics — most 'Sèvres' is 19th-century homage. Reading the real system, and the ho

  3 min read

• Capodimonte Marks: Crowned N, Applied Roses and What's Actually Old

  The crowned-N mark spans a royal 18th-century factory and a century of Italian workshops. Sorting genuinely old Capodimonte from 20th-centur

  3 min read

• Majolica Identification: Victorian Color, Palissy Creatures and the Repro Wave

  The lead-glazed riot of 19th-century naturalism — lettuce-leaf plates, fish pitchers, monkey teapots. Reading Minton, George Jones and Etrus

  3 min read

• Antique Clock Identification: Movements, Makers and What the Case Can't Tell You

  The dial says one name, the movement says another, the case says a third. How clocks are actually identified — movement stamps, case constru

  3 min read

• Pocket Watch Identification: Serial Numbers Do the Heavy Lifting

  American watch factories kept records that survive — movement serials date Elgins and Walthams to the year. Reading movements vs cases, jewe

  3 min read

• Antique Singer Sewing Machines: Serial Dating and the Honest Value Talk

  Every Singer dates to the year via its serial — and most are worth less than hoped. The lookup method, the models that DO bring money (Feath

  3 min read

• Antique Typewriter Identification and Value: From Understrikes to Valentines

  The typewriter market has two worlds — ornate 19th-century oddities worth thousands and 20th-century desk machines worth their looks. Serial

  2 min read

• Cast Iron Toys: Real vs Reproduction, Solved by Seams and Paint

  Banks, horse-drawn wagons and circus trucks — reproduced for 70 years and sold as old at every market. The casting, fastener and paint tests

  3 min read

• Antique Doll Identification: Neck Marks, Bisque vs Composition, and the Names That Matter

  Turn the head — dolls sign themselves at the neck. Reading German and French bisque marks, body types, sleep eyes and the composition era, p

  3 min read

• Steiff and Antique Teddy Bear Identification: The Button in the Ear and Beyond

  Hump, long snout, boot-button eyes — early bears have anatomy. Reading Steiff's ear buttons by era, dating by materials, and valuing the lov

  3 min read

• Tin Toy Identification: Lithography, Tabs and the Japan Space-Toy Boom

  German craftsmanship, American litho, Japanese robots — tin toys date by printing technique, construction and country marks. The eras, the m

  3 min read

• Vintage Board Game Values: Which Old Games Are Actually Worth Money

  Most old Monopolies are worth nothing; some cardboard is gold. The value logic — lithography, completeness, theme and era — plus the shortli

  2 min read

• Oriental Rug Identification: Reading the Back, Not the Front

  Knots, wefts, selvages and abrash — rugs identify from the reverse. Hand-knotted vs machine tests, regional signatures, dating clues and the

  3 min read

• Antique Quilt Identification: Dating by Fabric, Stitch and Pattern

  Quilts date like tree rings — every fabric era leaves evidence. Turkey red to feedsacks, hand vs machine stitching, pattern eras, and the va

  3 min read

• Vintage Linens and Lace: Identification, Monograms and What's Worth Keeping

  Handmade vs machine lace in one magnified glance, damask and linen tests, monogram culture — and an honest sorting of the trunk full of whit

  3 min read

• Painting or Print? The Tests That Expose Reproductions on the Wall

  The magnifier, the raking light and the back of the frame — how to tell original paintings from prints and 'enhanced' reproductions before a

  3 min read

• Antique Frame Identification: Gilt, Gesso and Why Empty Frames Sell

  The frame is often worth more than the picture. Water vs oil gilding, compo vs carved ornament, corner construction and the eras — plus the

  3 min read

• First Edition Identification: Points, Number Lines and the Dust Jacket Economy

  'First edition' is a claim with rules — publisher-specific, era-specific, maddening and learnable. Number lines, issue points, book-club imp

  3 min read

• Antique Map Identification: Plate Marks, Paper and Original vs Reproduction

  Copperplate impressions, chain lines, hand color vs printed color — how genuine antique maps declare themselves, and the decorative repros t

  3 min read

• Vintage Postcard Values: Reading Eras, Real Photos and What Collectors Chase

  The shoebox of postcards sorts by era in minutes — undivided backs, white borders, linens, chromes. Which cards bring real money (RPPCs!) an

  2 min read

• Tiffany Lamps: Real vs Fake in the Most Counterfeited Corner of Antiques

  Six-figure originals, century of copies, and 'Tiffany-style' everywhere. The base and shade evidence — marks, construction, glass — and the

  3 min read

• Antique Oil Lamp Identification: Burners, Fonts and the GWTW Confusion

  Whale oil to kerosene to 'Gone with the Wind' parlor lamps — dating by burner and font construction, the makers that matter, and electrified

  3 min read

• Antique Mirror Identification: Glass, Silvering and Frame Honesty

  Wavy glass, mercury sparkle, foxed edges — how mirror plates date themselves, what re-silvering does to value, and reading the frame-and-gla

  3 min read

• Griswold, Wagner and the Cast Iron Skillet Gold Rush

  The pans in the barn might beat the stocks in the drawer. Reading logos and heat rings, the smooth-vs-pebbly truth, gate marks, and restorat

  3 min read

• Identifying Silverware Patterns: From Mystery Monogram to Named Pattern

  Thousands of flatware patterns, one systematic hunt — mark first, era second, motif third. Pattern-matching resources, the odd-piece economy

  2 min read

• Is Grandma's China Set Worth Anything? An Honest Valuation Guide

  The full-service wedding china question, answered without cruelty or false hope — what collapsed, what still sells, pattern-hunting, and goo

  2 min read

• Vintage Pyrex Identification: Patterns, Stamps and the Collector Economy

  Butterprint, Gooseberry, Pink Daisy — opal Pyrex became a genuine collecting market. Reading backstamps, dating by logo, rarity tiers and th

  2 min read

• Where to Sell Antiques: Auction, Dealer, Online or Local — the Real Trade-offs

  The same object nets wildly different money by channel. Fees, speed, effort and price honesty for every selling route — and a decision matri

  3 min read

• Selling Antiques Online: Listings That Earn Top Price (and Survive Shipping)

  Photos sell, keywords find, honesty protects — and packing decides profit. The complete online-selling craft for antiques, from title formul

  3 min read

• Estate Sale Shopping: A Field Guide to Finding the Good Stuff

  Where the best pieces hide, day-one vs half-price-day strategy, the etiquette that gets you invited back, and the five-minute checks that pr

  3 min read

• Thrift Store Flipping With AI: The Modern Picker's Workflow

  The scanner generation comes for the antique aisle — how AI identification turns thrift racks into sourcing runs, the categories that flip b

  3 min read

• Downsizing Inherited Antiques Without Regret: A Staged Playbook

  The house is full, the timeline is real, and everything was loved by someone. The triage-keep-sell-give sequence that protects value, family

  3 min read

• Arts & Crafts and Mission Furniture: Stickley Marks and the Oak Aristocracy

  Quarter-sawn oak, exposed joinery, honest hardware — and a price gap of 10× between Stickley and lookalikes. Reading the shopmarks, the cons

  3 min read

• Primitive and Farmhouse Antiques: Real Country vs Manufactured Rustic

  Dry sinks, firkins, dough bowls and original paint — the country-primitive market's rules, where honest wear is everything and 'farmhouse st

  3 min read

• American Folk Art Identification: Weathervanes, Whirligigs and the Naive Eye

  The self-taught art of everyday America — decoys, trade signs, samplers, portraits — where 'crude' can mean six figures. Evaluating authenti

  3 min read

• Antique Crocks and Stoneware: Cobalt Decoration, Maker Stamps and Value

  Salt-glazed crocks with cobalt birds and flowers anchor Americana kitchens. Reading capacity marks, maker stamps and decoration tiers — and

  3 min read

• Art Pottery vs Production Pottery: The Distinction Behind Every Price Tag

  Hand-thrown, artist-glazed studio work vs molded factory lines — why the same shelf holds $20 and $2,000 vases, and how to tell which you're

  2 min read

• The Most Valuable Antiques Hiding in Ordinary Homes

  The statistical sleepers — categories that routinely turn up valuable in attics, kitchens and jewelry boxes — and the two-minute check for e

  2 min read

• Antique Radio Identification: Cathedrals, Catalins and the Bakelite Boom

  From 1920s battery sets to 1940s colored Catalin jewels — dating radios by cabinet, chassis and dial, and the models worth real money (hint:

  3 min read

• Vintage Camera Values: Leicas, Folders and the Boxes of Brownies

  One camera in a hundred is real money — the rest are decor. Serial-and-model literacy for Leica/Zeiss/Rolleiflex tiers, the film-revival use

  2 min read

• Antique Advertising Signs: Porcelain, Tin and the Reproduction Epidemic

  Gas, soda and country-store signs lead Americana — and repros outnumber originals absurdly. Grommets, fields, fade logic and the dating stam

  3 min read

Antique Identifier

Point your camera at any antique, coin, or collectible and get an instant AI appraisal — what it is, its era, and what it's worth.

Download on the App Store