Here's a puzzle that I've seen a number of times. Each time, however, while the "solution" did give enough information to prove the artifact was a fake, it always contained a serious error. Let's see if you guys can figure out how the expert knew it was a fake, and avoid the error that always seems to accompany this puzzle.
A museum hires an expert to evaluate a sword that someone is offering to sell them. The sword bears the engraving "Presented to General Thomas Johnathan Jackson on September 3, 1861, in recognition of his standing like a stone wall at the first battle of Bull Run". Needless to say, a sword which had actually been owned by a famous general would be an extremely valuable artifact, but the museum does not want to be stuck with a forgery.
Less than a minute after being handed the sword, the expert proclaims "Someone ruined a perfectly good Dog River by turning it into a bad forgery".
How did the expert know that the sword was a fake?
A museum hires an expert to evaluate a sword that someone is offering to sell them. The sword bears the engraving "Presented to General Thomas Johnathan Jackson on September 3, 1861, in recognition of his standing like a stone wall at the first battle of Bull Run". Needless to say, a sword which had actually been owned by a famous general would be an extremely valuable artifact, but the museum does not want to be stuck with a forgery.
Less than a minute after being handed the sword, the expert proclaims "Someone ruined a perfectly good Dog River by turning it into a bad forgery".
How did the expert know that the sword was a fake?
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