fake05a

This is a very startling and convincing fake. At first blush it appears to be genuine; however, it is a very clever bleach job. An unintended consequence is that the bleaching has affected the gum. On some examples, the gum appears much paler than normal. On others, the gum appears toned, as if the faker had tried to restore some of the yellowish tint typical of normal gum to the the bleached gum. One of the problems fakers encounter is that when they tamper with an item, they affect areas other than those they intend to alter, and it is virtually impossible to restore the affected areas to their normal appearance.