A frame has turned up which is a forgery from an unknown builder. The previous owner may not have known its bogus pedigree. Forensic analysis below.
1. No frame number.
2. The seat binder bolt boss is from the 1950s, but the fastback stays design was introduced in the 1970s, and the rear dropouts are from the 1990s (the manufacturer's part nr. is clearly visible, stamped onto the inside)--a farrago of bits cobbled together from 4 decades.
3. The brake bridge and ornament are not up to standard for a Hetchins.
4. The st ornament is not appropriate, and the ht ornament is highly suspicious--only one genuine frame is known from this time period with this ornament on the ht, and no genuine frames are known with this st ornament.
5. The lugset, MO ii, is possibly original, but has not been filed smooth around the edges, not up to standard for a Hetchins.
6. The bb shell has shims--because the ch.stays and the bb shell are from different decades.
7. The curve on the steat stays is too shallow and too high up.
Below are photos with the anomalous bits marked in red.
Mouse-over for captions.
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