The Director of the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, Tong Trung Tin, warned that fake antiques have entered some provincial museums and appeared in several magazines. Tin told local museums to be cautious when collecting antiques to avoid collecting counterfeit items.

Not only new, but also experienced collectors have bought fake antiques. “When I started collecting antiques, a senior collector sold me a small ancient jar for VND200,000. He told me that this jar belonged to the “ong thieu” antique style. He also told me about the history of “ong thieu”. Several years later, I learned that he cheated me,” said an antique collector named Huu Hoi.

Another collector in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, Mr. Vu Anh Tuan, paid US$54,000 for three Chinese bronze antiques from Tran Kim Hoa, an antique trader on Le Cong Kieu street in HCM City.

After bringing these items home, Tuan had a feeling they might be fakes so he hired experts to examine them. It turned out that they were fake products, produced in 2000 in China.

Collector Nguyen Tien Truong from Le Cong Kieu street, HCM City purchased 10 fake Chinese antiques at the cost of $233,500.

A new collector named LVH said: “What a close shave! I nearly bought a fake Chinese ancient plate, which was as expensive as an apartment. Fake antiques are very sophisticated! Experienced collectors can still make mistakes.”

Some antique traders in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang recently sold ancient bronze buckets for over VND20 million ($1,100). They said these things were fished from ancient shipwrecks. They showed them the teredo shells clinging to them as evidence. Yet, these were fake antiques.

The Director of the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, Tong Trung Tin, said that police have recently discovered some rings producing counterfeit antiques in Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh province, Hai Ba Trung and Me Linh districts in Hanoi.

Tin said that the institute has examined many antiques in Hanoi, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ninh and realised that faked antiques are very sophisticated and produced by modern technology.

He said Vietnam has a law on antiques but the law enforcement is weak so combating fake antiques is a hopeless cause. He advised collectors to make examinations before purchasing antiques.

PV