# Chinese sword still good after over 2000 years - fake or real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581 "2017-01-07T22:42:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/1 "2017-01-07T22:42:04Z")
Youtube video of the sword being unsheathed [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrF7TdLk8uc). It looks like iron rather than bronze to me. Part of me really wants to believe this, but a bigger part of me is extremely sceptical. Would knowledgeable Dopers care to chime in? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/2 "2017-01-07T23:00:20Z")
Quite a few links around, however you are right to be cautious, since there is apparently a market in copies. It seems this sword is highly likely to be bronze - despite the colour but later era swords were steel [http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/45400](http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/45400) Don’t be too surprised at this state of preservation, there are better examples around > **[2,500-Year-Old Chinese Sword Still Looks and Cuts Like New](https://mymodernmet.com/sword-of-goujian/)** > > There are many distinctive swords in history, but few like Sword of Goujian. The rare dagger is more than 2,500 years old but still in impeccable condition. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/3 "2017-01-07T23:15:16Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > It seems this sword is highly likely to be bronze - despite the colour but later era swords were steel > > [http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/45400](http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/45400) The article to which that post links doesn’t say whether the sword is bronze or iron, so I wonder how they make the determination? That sword sure looks like iron to me. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/4 "2017-01-07T23:24:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The article to which that post links doesn’t say whether the sword is bronze or iron, so I wonder how they make the determination? That sword sure looks like iron to me. We have a spectral analyzer(cost=$25K US) which will tell you the composition of anything metal down to one hundredth of one percent. I shoot ancient roman and Greek coins and get 0.03% gold, 75.22% copper, 24.55% zinc and 0.020% lead. Just an example. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/5 "2017-01-08T08:23:01Z")
China has entire museums filled with fakes. A few years ago I went to a museum in Fuzhou and “1000 year old” pottery and clothes looked brand new. No deterioration at all. > [@](#): > > Chinese museum found with 40,000 fake exhibits forced to close > [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10182088/Chinese-museum-found-with-40000-fake-exhibits-forced-to-close.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10182088/Chinese-museum-found-with-40000-fake-exhibits-forced-to-close.html) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/6 "2017-01-08T17:35:06Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > We have a spectral analyzer(cost=$25K US) which will tell you the composition of anything metal down to one hundredth of one percent. > > I shoot ancient roman and Greek coins and get 0.03% gold, 75.22% copper, 24.55% zinc and 0.020% lead. Just an example. That is so neat - I have some Roman coins my Grandmother took brasso and steel wool to _sigh_ ☹ I probably should go online and try to ID them. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sword-still-good-after-over-2000-years-fake-or-real/776581/7 "2017-01-08T22:35:26Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > We have a spectral analyzer(cost=$25K US) which will tell you the composition of anything metal down to one hundredth of one percent. > > I shoot ancient roman and Greek coins and get 0.03% gold, 75.22% copper, 24.55% zinc and 0.020% lead. Just an example. On my first reading I missed the “k”. I thought, twenty five bucks? I gotta get one of those.