Photographs

How to Spot Reproduction Civil War Photographs: Copies, Prints and Modern Tintypes

Civil War photographs are reproduced more than almost any other kind of relic, and for good reasons: museums sell prints, families copy ancestors' portraits, and a thriving community of wet-plate artists makes new tintypes and ambrotypes using period methods. None of that is a problem until a copy is sold as an original. This guide covers the main kinds of reproduction you will meet and the physical checks that separate them from period originals.

The four kinds of "reproduction"

The word reproduction covers very different things. Separating them helps you describe what you have accurately, because not all of them are worthless or dishonest.

Checking a CDV or card photograph

The print surface

Wartime CDVs are typically albumen prints: thin paper coated with egg white and silver, printed by contact with a glass negative. Under a 10x loupe, an albumen print shows continuous tone, with no dots or regular pattern, and often fine surface cracking and paper fibers. Albumen prints often show some yellowing, fading at the edges or a warm brown tone.

Modern printed reproductions show the method that made them. Offset and halftone printing leave a regular pattern of dots. Inkjet prints show tiny sprayed droplets and can look slightly fuzzy. Laser prints may show toner particles sitting on the surface. Under magnification, any regular dot pattern is a strong sign of a modern print.

The mount

Wartime CDV mounts were thin card. Look at:

• Thickness and stiffness. Modern card and later mounts are often thicker or a different color than wartime card.
• Corners. Wartime mounts were commonly square-cornered; rounded corners became common around the end of the 1860s and after. Corner style helps date a mount but is not proof on its own.
• Borders and lines. Many wartime mounts are plain or have simple ruled lines. Heavy decorative borders and colored card are typical of later decades.
• The back. Photographer imprints, addresses and revenue tax stamps can be checked against period evidence. Our guides to photographer imprints and tax stamps explain how.
• How the print is attached. An original albumen print is usually pasted down flat with slight curling at the edges in some cases. A modern print laminated onto card looks different.

Ultraviolet light

Many modern papers and cards contain optical brighteners that glow bright blue-white under longwave UV light. Most 19th-century paper does not. A glowing print or card is a red flag. A non-glowing one is consistent with age but not proof, because old card stock can be reused. You can browse 365nm UV flashlights on Amazon.

Recognizing a copy of an earlier photograph

Period and modern copies both share signs of being "a photo of a photo":

• Softer detail and flatter contrast than you would expect from a camera original.
• Visible damage from the original, such as scratches, cracks, flaking, spots or the outline of a mat or case opening.
• An image that sits inside a frame or oval that was clearly part of the earlier object.
• Reflections or glare that would come from photographing a glass-covered image.
• A mirror-reversed image on a CDV, which can mean it was copied from a tintype or ambrotype.

A period copy is still a period photograph, and copies made for a soldier's family can be historically meaningful. The key is to describe it as a copy and not to treat it as a camera original.

Checking tintypes and ambrotypes

Modern wet-plate photographers make real tintypes and ambrotypes using the same chemistry as the 1860s. That makes the process itself useless as a test. You need to look at the object and its history.

Tintypes

• The plate. Period tintypes were made on thin, black- or brown-japanned iron. Look at the edges and back for period japanning, rust patterns and how the plate was cut. Modern plates are often aluminum and may be non-magnetic. A small magnet is a useful first test, though some modern makers use steel.
• Varnish and surface. Period varnish often shows age, fine crazing, wear, dust trapped in it and handling marks consistent with the plate's housing.
• Housing. Was it in a case, a paper sleeve or an album? Sleeves often carried printed patriotic designs and sometimes photographer imprints. Check whether the plate's wear matches the opening of the sleeve or mat.
• Subject. Modern images of reenactors can be accurate, but small details such as modern haircuts, eyeglasses, jewelry, or reproduction gear that is too perfect can give them away.

Ambrotypes

• Glass. Period glass may show slight waviness, bubbles or uneven thickness. Modern glass is often very flat and uniform.
• Backing. Period ambrotypes were made to appear positive by backing them with dark varnish, paper or cloth, or by using dark glass. Check whether the backing shows age.
• Package. Mat, preserver, cover glass and case should be consistent. Disturbed seals and mismatched parts are common, so they are not proof of fakery, but they mean the image may have been moved.

Red flags in listings

• A dramatic image (armed soldier, rare unit, famous person) with no information about where it came from.
• Multiple identical images from one seller described as originals.
• Photographs only of the front, with no back, edges or case interior shown.
• Descriptions such as "old photo" or "antique style" that avoid saying "original."
• An identified name added in modern ink or a modern hand on an otherwise plain image.
• Prices far below what similar originals sell for, without explanation.

When you research, compare listings that show the back and edges. Search Civil War soldier CDVs on eBay and tintypes, and look at sold ambrotype listings to see what complete, well-described images look like. If you buy online, look for a clear return policy. Our guide to using eBay sold listings explains how to use sales data carefully.

How to describe what you have

Use specific, honest terms in your records and when you sell:

• "Wartime albumen CDV, square corners, photographer imprint and revenue stamp on back."
• "Period copy CDV of an earlier tintype, 1860s mount."
• "Later print from a wartime negative, publisher's mount."
• "Modern wet-plate tintype in period style."
• "Modern printed reproduction on card."

Keep photographs of front, back and edges with your record. If you inherit a family album that mixes originals and copies, document the album intact before separating anything; the album's order may be evidence of family relationships.