Oscar Will Venus-Waffenwek artwork?

[ccdjg]

What does a UV test show? Found the answer below:

http://www.cycleback.com/blacklight/optical.html

You can get a uv light pen off Fleabay for about 4 dollars, which work fine for this. Any collector worth his salt should have one in his armoury.

[45flint]

You can get a uv light pen off Fleabay for about 4 dollars, which work fine for this. Any collector worth his salt should have one in his armoury.

Looks like it can prove it’s not but not that it is?

[ccdjg]

Looks like it can prove it’s not but not that it is?

Yes, its not a perfect test, but not bad. This is how it pans out:

A positive blue fluorescence This tells you that the paper or card substrate is post ca. 1950 with 100% certainty. So defnitely a fake.

No blue fluorescence About 90% certain it is genuine
A fake will only give a negative fluorescence result if (a) it was faked before 1950, or (b) was made after 1950 and the faker had access to non-fluorescent paper and knew about the uv test. A fake made before 1950 can almost certainly be discounted as faking did not become economically viable (at least for relatively low value items such as airgun ephemera) until ink jet and laser printing and colour photocopying were invented. A non-fluorescent fake made after i950 is going to be very unlikely (but not impossible) because non-fluorescent paper is no longer available to the general public (which is why bank notes are printed on non-fluorescent paper).

[45flint]

Yes, its not a perfect test, but not bad. This is how it pans out:

A positive blue fluorescence This tells you that the paper or card substrate is post ca. 1950 with 100% certainty. So defnitely a fake.

No blue fluorescence About 90% certain it is genuine
A fake will only give a negative fluorescence result if (a) it was faked before 1950, or (b) was made after 1950 and the faker had access to non-fluorescent paper and knew about the uv test. A fake made before 1950 can almost certainly be discounted as faking did not become economically viable (at least for relatively low value items such as airgun ephemera) until ink jet and laser printing and colour photocopying were invented. A non-fluorescent fake made after i950 is going to be very unlikely (but not impossible) because non-fluorescent paper is no longer available to the general public (which is why bank notes are printed on non-fluorescent paper).

Interesting, probably forth the $5. But will I ever use it again?

[45flint]

Well UV light on its way to break my heart.

[ccdjg]

Interesting, probably forth the $5. But will I ever use it again?

If you like original gun boxes, pellet boxes, literature or oil cans with your pre-war vintage pistols then the pens are worth their weight in gold. There are so many excellent copies of these around these days that one should never fork out heavy cash without a uv check. Good luck with your quest for the truth!

[45flint]

Well it was $5 well spend on the UV flashlight. The Venus Waffenwerk label did not have any blue fluorescence. Tested it on some new copy paper I had and could clearly see the difference. Had just bought a 1934 catalog which was a good test, given it’s dated, and it had no fluorescence as well. So odds are, I guess, it is genuine.

It’s interesting how the image of this vary print has made the rounds. It has a noticeable little defect I can see so I know it’s the same one. Probably taken from a image used in a earlier auction. It’s in the Vintage Airgun Gallery and this site on German Hunting Guns.

Thanks for all the help. I am now better equipped to collect, this was all new to me, glad it ended happily.

http://www.germanhuntingguns.com/arc...us-waffenwerk/

[ccdjg]

That's a brilliant outcome, well done! I wish I had a piece of 100 year old airgun artwork in that good a condition.

Now I dare you to check all your vintage pistol box labels with the pen! (Actually I think you are safe, as repro' boxes are a relatively recent phenomenon, and then in the UK rather than in the States.