Matthewlawson3 wrote:
So just for clarification, you think it is a real Water Weasel because it does have markings that someone purposely tried to remove, which you say was often done? I guess markings at all would also indicate it being real.
And also you say it is real because the logo dirt indicates use over time that would be difficult to counterfeit easily?
Yes. Well, it could be done, but why would anyone bother? You found it lying by itself in a shop, not on some website claiming to have a hoard of Water Weasels in all states of condition.
Peter Duggan wrote:
Nanohedron wrote:
The label shows a trace of dirt accumulation especially along the lower edge; that speaks to years of use. If this whistle's a forgery, someone went to a lot of trouble in the minutiae.
Does anyone seriously think anyone's going to be taking that much trouble to be forging Water Weasels?
Not I.
Peter Duggan wrote:
I don't; while they're clearly quite desirable whistles, there's neither a huge market for them nor a lot of money in them and nobody's going to be putting in hours of work per forged whistle for the potential return!
Exactly. What I was doing was pointing out details that could serve to put the OP's concerns to rest. His whistle has the right-looking label and conformation, but even so, given that Water Weasels are highly attractive prizes to certain sectors of the whistle-playing world, but long out of production, not easy to come by, and the maker is no longer here to be asked, apparently the OP had enough doubt to ask others if it was the real deal. I would say that that was a misgiving of the possibility of forgery. Not that I would share those misgivings, but the question invites an examination of the evidence available to us. For my part I am convinced of the whistle's veracity, so when I said, "If it's a forgery (etc.)," that was a rhetorical statement acknowledging the OP's misgivings. It has nothing to do with any real doubt on my part.