Randy, I'm with you on this one. It has a lot of authentic looking "lifted" or "raised" edges on the carving cuts, particularly in the lion's mane, and elsewhere, that really look good, as does the mottled staining and areas of damage and nicks/dings. It's a great looking horn. My one concern is the horn's lettering. I'm not fully comfortable with the shaping and filling in, or lack thereof, of a good portion of the lettering.
At the price these horns bring today, particularly when sold on the internet where the horn cannot be personally inspected, handled and/or examined with a 10x loop, I think it's always a good idea to take a conservative approach and assume the worst, and then through close scrutiny, prove to yourself that the horn appears ALL original. In this case it might require good comparisons with similar published horns, with particular attention to the lettering, but reasonable attention to the rest of the horn as well. This seller seems to be a pretty good one, offering a 3 day return period, and he/she has a great track record in prior sales and % of positive feedback, so risk is a lot less than with those "no return" internet sales. Shelby Gallien
