Trade silver of dubious origins was examined at the Canadian Conservation Institute to determine its provenance. Collections offered to museums claimed to have been excavated by amateur archaeologists. A database of compositional, physical and punchmark information was compiled from well-documented trade silver collections from museums. Upon comparison, the majority of the dubious pieces were found to have been fabricated from silver doctored to appear antiquated. The reference data was not published to prevent other forgeries from being produced.