[Neil Melville]

Hi everyone, I am wondering if anyone here has had any dealings with TimeLine Auctions of London and Essex. How reliable are they? How accurate are their descriptions of the swords and armour that they offer? Basically anything that might encourage or discourage me to deal with them. Thanks in advance.
Neil

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Prices are suspiciously low in many instances. That often indicates stuff with iffy provenance or just plain iffy. However, some bronze helmets are not as pricey as one would think, if they are not 'Corinthian', which is what the vast number of collectors want. It will be noted that most of them have two-piece skulls, which is not something most collectors or museums want. You would do well to pester Dan Howard to get his take on this stuff. I think you cannot go wrong with the arrowheads, with one caveat, namely that I think the 'medieval' arrowheads may often not be European. Arrowheads turn up in huge quantities at battle sites, especially sieges; I met someone once who had helped excavate the 'Great Gate' at Nineveh, and she said they put the arrowheads in dumpsters, there were so many. I don't think they 'landfilled' them.

[Nathan Robinson]

I haven't been to their site in a long while, but when I was looking at stuff a few years back, the things I saw on there were very, very questionable. I do not have an opinion as to whether or not they were aware of items being fraudulent or if they were legitimately of a different opinion/assessment of them. Either way, buying antique swords over the 'net is a difficult proposition.

[Neil Melville]

Thank you both, James and Nathan. I already had some doubts.
Neil

[Dan Howard]

I've bought from them before but never paid more than I was prepared to pay for a replica. Best to assume that nothing they sell is genuine.

[Don Stanko]

Some items do require paperwork for export. Usually UK metal detector finds. Many of those items look good. But I can’t vouch for everything they sell.