Berkeley, California -
Drake's Plate Of Brass: Former Fraud On Display
Francis Drake's plate has been determined to be a forgery.
- Address:
- Berkeley, CA
- Directions:
- Bancroft Library, University of California
- Phone:
- 510-642-3781
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After the Plate was found in 1933 -- then thrown away and found again in 1936 -- historians questioned its wording, spelling, and manufacture. The hoax’s perpetrators even tried to tip off its discoverer's to its phony origins. But an early metallurgical study mistakenly concluded that it was genuine, and most of the experts obediently fell silent. It wasn't until the late 1970s, after a new round of physical and chemical tests, that scientists determined that the plate was a modern forgery. And it wasn't until 2003 that the Plate was found to be a practical-joke-gone-awry by local historians, intended to fool the gullible director of the Bancroft Library.
The Library is currently closed for repairs, but it vows to prominently display the Plate when it re-opens in the summer of 2008. [RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 04/27/2007]
Nearby Offbeat Places
- Fish Shaped House, Berkeley, CA - 2 mi.
- Miniature Railroad WWII monument, Berkeley, CA - 2 mi.
- Protesters - Berkeley's Big People Statues, Berkeley, CA - 2 mi.
- In the region: Mystery Tombstone, Colma, CA - 17 mi.
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