How to Identify an Antique Plate?

You may be a newbie in antique plate collecting. And how you love to know where the antique plates passed down by your grand mother came from. You are curious of how every piece you have in your home which you think came from the fore-parents are made, who made them and if they are genuine antiques. Where did your family acquire them? How did they come to your possession? And you might be enthusiastic in knowing how genuine the pieces you would like to purchase are.

Identifying antiques is a must in antique collecting. You have to identify what the piece is, where it was made and how old it is to know its hidden value. Now you may say a resounding “how”. Here are some of the things that you need to know in identifying antiques:

Invest in antique resource materials. It is necessary to study what antiques are first before you start collecting. The art of identifying them is very broad. A good study of what antiques really are and how can you classify an antique will is a good way to start. Buy magazines and books about antiques. They will tell and show you all kinds of antiques and you’ll be very enthusiastic reading them. They will also give you tips in knowing the genuineness of an antique piece—is it real or fake?

Study your piece. Look closely at your piece. Do you see marks? Marks are the best way to identify the manufacturer of the piece. They are usually initials, numbers or short words and logos. They can be found usually at the bottom of the piece.

Look for the manufacturer. You may have identified the mark. Your next step is to do a little research about it. The net is overloading with information about them. But try to look for a credible source of antique marks.  Find the one that looks exactly the same as in your antique piece. Know its back ground. And it will definitely lead you in identifying things beyond the manufacturer like when it was made, and what it was made of.

Ask an expert. If you think you’ve got a genuine antique, you may consult an appraiser to tell you how valuable it is. But you must also be ready to the possibility of knowing that you’ve got a fake.

Share and get information. There are online forums which are full of people, expert for that matter, who can help you in identifying your piece. All you need to do is join forums, make a post describing your antique plate, upload a photo of your plate and wait for their expert opinions and information.