I recently came across a brief discussion of the Kinderhook Plates by the late John A. Tvedtnes; I am reproducing it for those who are fans of his work:
Kinderhook Plates a "Hoax"
This week I read J. G. Barton's article on the Kinderhook
Plates that appeared in the latest issue of Ancient American. I don't
know if the author is simply ignorant of more recent research on the topic or
is aware of it but deceptive in omitting it from the article.
In 1980, the only plate known to still exist was
submitted to various tests, using a scanning microprobe and X-ray fluorescence
analysis. The tests demonstrated that, contrary to earlier opinions elicited in
the article by my good friend, Welby Ricks (cited in the Barron article), the
plate was produced by acid etching rather than by an engraving tool.
This matter was discussed at length by another of my
acquaintances, Prof. Stanley B. Kimball, in his article, "Kinderhook
Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to be a Nineteenth Century Hoax,"
which was published in The Ensign (successor to The Improvement Era
that carried the Ricks article), August 1981. Even more recent is Kimball's
entry on the "Kinderhook Plates" in Macmillan's Encyclopedia of
Mormonism, volume 2. It would be well for you to mention these facts, so
your readers will not be misled.
John A. Tvedtness
F.A.R.M.S.
Provo, UT (John A. Tvedtnes,
letter to the editor, Ancient American: Archaeology of the Americas before
Columbus 3, no. 21 [November/December 1997]: 23)
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