Hi Tim, don't worry about this one, there is a significant amount of rubbish sold off as keris, some new made some just old rubbish. Ebay does not seem to be a good place for the novice keris collector, it takes a long while and a lot of knowledge (which I dont have) to differentiate the good from the bad and even longer to split the good from the very good. Keris really are fascinating but if you want a good experience from the start I think you might be best served by finding a reputable dealer rather than relying on the luck of ebay (there was an interesting thread a while ago about 'keris like objects'). Anyway dont give up, like you say we have all bought some absolute duds (
shudders convulsively at the thought of one particularly poor purchase). Maybe we should have a thread on the main board about "trash I have paid for".
cheers
David