Belt Axes

fake in what way? they look like a functional belt axe or fake as in not the year or make that was advertised?
 
They were sold as Native American trade axe. The thickness of the head seems thin. The pitting doesn't look like it is from normal use. The time period is 1780 to 1820.
 
I may be wrong, but it looks to me like the blade was welded to the eye using an arc welder. The pitting also looks more like tooling marks than rusted out places. Just my opinion.:confused:
 
Some of the pits look like they were started by tapping an arc welder. I'm looking in the center of the pit. Did you get them on E-bay? lots of fraud perpetrated there with collectibles
 
One of those little "bubble/pits" in front of the eye does 'look" like a weld pit from here..Cant be 100% sure without seeing it up close. I remember there was some hawks on ebay a little while back who was selling a wrap&weld style hawk and the whole seam in front of the eye was covered with weld then ground down. Im sure a lot of folks couldent tell but Im a welder and a blacksmith so it stood out to me like a sore thumb.
 
This is a REAL British pattern belt axe that I found along one of the major Canadian northern rivers, a prefered fur trade route of the time. Date estimated between 1780-1810. Possibly made in Albany New York. Straight cuts in it are from farm plowing.

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looks like the wrong style of construction for period pieces to me.
my vote is someone took a piece of pipe, split it, slid in a piece of plate, then welded the sides.
a period belt axe would have either been a "fold and weld" - and the eye is too round for that, or the eye would have been shaped with a punch - which would not have left weld marks or the nub of the blade inside the circle of the eye.
 
NEVER BUY SOMETHING LIKE THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE A CERTIFICATE/DOCUMENTATION FOR THE ITEM.

From now on, always make sure you check and do a little research before hand.
I would still get an expert to check them, and then if it is at all possible,
you need to take them back to wherever you got them from.
 
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