Dear Antiques Roadshow...

Dear Antiques Roadshow,

I have enclosed in this box a pair of crystal skulls. The curator at the museum assured me that they are the genuine article. The larger of the 2 skulls emits a strong magnetic field. The smaller one less so. As per your handy dandy guide to "Mysterious Antiquities Vol 4" I examined them and was unable to find any signs of injection molding or hammer marks. They are of a very smooth nature and in the cranium area are a number of odd glowey bits. The curator insists that I insure them through the museum for a minimum of $300,000.00 (Purchasable through the museum of course for a small fee.) Would you be so kind as to assay them for me?

Yours truly,
Indy Jr.

P.S. I've also thrown in this old box that I found.



Dear Indy,
We sent your skulls to our assayers at Christy's new York office. Oh they were very excited to receive them. However I must tell you that upon further evaluation that you are a victim of a forgery. It seems that the crystal skulls aren't really crystal but common glass. The glowey bits in the cranium are really the innards removed from a lite brite. The magnetic field turned out to be literally a magnet hidden in the base. What you do have however is partial set of skulls belong to the "Wee Halloween Spooks" series made in 1430 AD in Italy. You have two thirds of the set. You have the Father (In very nice condition I might add) and the Mother (Slightly worn but to be expected). You are however missing the Infant Skull (Named Susan). This depreciates the value a bit also you seem to be lacking the original box. You'll recognize it by the Goat skin cover and the words "Wee Halloween Spooks" stamped in the top lid and the words "Made with pride by the Badia Fiorentina Monks (Benedictine)" on the underside.

One thing that we like to do is use things like this as a means on how to educate our public on how to avoid forgerys of this nature. Here are a few simple tests that you can do.

1) Take a piece of wood and wrap felt around it. Take the skull and hold it as if you were Hamlet. Tap the skull (gently!!) right between the eyes. There should be a clear ringing sound. If you hear a dull sound that means it's glass. If you hear a thunk then it's acrylic plastic.

2) Shine a flashlight into one earhole. If the skull lights up with many colors and you hear a choir then you may have the real thing. If you hear menacing music put it down immediately!!

3) Finally subject it to about 60 seconds in the microwave (1000 watts should do nicely). If you hear the skull scream then you may have a winner. If it melts then it's plastic.

it is truly unfortunate but between the periods of Atlantis sinking and the rise of the Egyptian Empire a cottage industry of Crystal Skull manufacture sprang up and the market is presently flooded with these knockoffs. This should not discourage you. We all live and learn.

Yours Truly,
Antiques Roadshow

P.S. We are also looking at the "old Box" that you sent us. Preliminary reports make it seem to the the "Ark Of the Covenant" series of Bread Boxes. We will keep you posted on what our research finds out.