Found Anything Worth buying on ebay?

[JeffreyHendricks]

id like to eventually collect true authentic weaponry...much later though. I imagine some of you can look at one picture of a sword and know if its junk or the real thing..any tips? also if you've seen anthing on ebay...i'd like to know!


on this the seller is very unsure of what he is selling
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Rapier-Sword-18th-Century-1700s-Antique-Rare_W0QQitemZ6611814939QQcategoryZ43340QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/Suit-of-armor-original-old-style-of-Maximilian-I_W0QQitemZ6612961117QQcategoryZ1552QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://collectibles.listings.ebay.com/Militaria_Pre-1700_W0QQfcclZ1QQfclZ3QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ3QQsacatZ1552QQsbrsrtZdQQsocmdZListingItemList

[Allen Johnson]

I get a bad vibe about that rapier. Could be the weird grip. Could be what looks like silver paint flaking away from parts of the hilt and pommel. I have no idea why they think its Scottish. They were never really big fans of the rapier. I'll check the makers marks on the blade and see if they match up with anything in my Scottish Arms Makers book.
I dont know enough about period armour to make a guess at those but from what I understand, it is nigh impossible to find a complete suit of period armour intact. Even most in museums are 'Frankensuits" made of piecing together missing pieces from other suits. Or added modern pieces to fill in the gaps.

When buying antiques I think it would be better to buy through an established dealer of that stuff.

This looks legit: http://cgi.ebay.com/EUROPEAN-CAVALRY-BROAD-SWORD-C1660_W0QQitemZ6612529428QQcategoryZ1552QQcmdZViewItem and I think Michael D. Long (the seller) does alot of this stuff and clearly states when its a modern repo.

[Matt Easton]

You can occasionally find antique bargains on ebay. I collect antique swords and have picked up a pre-1814 French Naval Officer's spadroon for £31 (about $50) and a German hunting sword of c.1720-1740 for about the same amount.. You need to know about antique swords and you need to spend a lot of time looking for things that are badly or wrongly labelled (and so the price stays low).

Matt