NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2018 Jul 15, 11:48 -0700
That's my usual rule-of-thumb advice for weeding out many of the novelty and faux sextants on ebay: "if it's shiny and golden and looks like a trophy, it's probably not a real instrument".
A NavList "lurker" sent me a note about a listing on ebay for a "C.Plath" sextant. It's got some unusually shiny surfaces (notice that the back side of the index mirror housing appears mirrored!) and a "sprayed on" patina. The sprayed aging has resulted in a sort of zebra-striping along the scope. Have a look: Faux C.Plath sextant on ebay. I emailed the seller and advised him of what he is selling. He then added the modest disclaimer at the foot of the auction description. Poor guy probably paid way too much for it, and now he's trying to unload it.
Frank Reed
