Hopkino wrote: ↑21:43 Tue 03 Dec 2019The lettering is not as crisp as I would expect given the technology available in 77and the colours don’t seem right. I’m no expert, which is why I turned here for some advice. I keep meticulous records and I know from where this was purchased, which led me to thinking - how often are VP’s forged and how likely are they to be passed through the retail market?
It's always worth looking into it further when your gut tells you there may be something wrong; sometimes you find information that allays your fears, other times you substantiate them, but at least you can make any decisions on as much information as possible, rather than unnecessary assumption which may otherwise bite you later.
How often are VPs forged? Difficult to answer. At one stage I noticed that there seemed to be a few coming through, so I started to try and keep a track (see
here) but while there have been plenty of potential fakes there are not a large number of confirmed ones. It would be expected that the primary targets for counterfeiters would be expensive bottles, hence very old and/or premium bottles; hence these should be subject to the most scrutiny also. This seems to be potentially confirmed by the bottles on the known fakes page, but this might just be confirmation bias - people are perhaps more likely to have found/reported fakes of more valuable items; whether it would be worthwhile faking lower-value items in small volume might be questionable.
Hopkino wrote: ↑23:04 Tue 03 Dec 2019I guess I’m just trying to reassure myself that what I and others are buying for me can be verified, as best as can be.
Rather than being any means to verify, it is more checking that nothing appears wrong or unexpected, or if it is then whether there is a potentially valid reason, and taking into account the source, and adjusting your perception of risk (and hence any judgement of cost/value and purchasing decision) on that basis.