RICHMOND, VA.-The possibility of overlooking a fake or forged piece of silver has haunted curators, collectors and dealers for as long as silver has been prized.

Silver specialist Alastair Dickenson will expose the sharp practices of disreputable silversmiths and dealers - and will offer clues to distinguishing between a fake and the genuine article - in a talk Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

His lecture, titled "The Fake's Progress," will trace the history of fakes and forgeries since the early 18th century and will highlight sophisticated developments in faking that present a challenge to connoisseurship.

Dickenson has been the silver expert for BBC TV's "Antiques Roadshow" for 15 years. He is a former director of Asprey, the luxury-goods company based in London, and of that same city's Tessier jewelers. He is the only member of the antique plate committee of The Goldsmiths' Company's Assay Office London to be re-elected to a second term. The committee examines suspect silver articles and advises Assay Office London on the genuineness of hallmarks and whether there have been illegal alterations or additions. He is also a founding member of the Guild of Art Scholars, Dealers and Collectors.

Dickenson's lecture will be followed by a reception and private viewing of VMFA's "Noble Silver: The Jerome and Rita Gans Collection of English Silver." The Gans silver collection at VMFA is one of the finest collections of English silver in the world, scholars say.

Tickets to the lecture are $20 (members, seniors and students $10) and may be purchased at the museum or by telephoning (804) 340-1405.

On the next day, Oct. 25, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will host a full-day seminar on the identification of fake and forged antique silver aimed specifically at silver specialists, auctioneers, independent dealers, insurance valuers and private collectors. The seminar's morning session will explore the English hallmarking system, the regulatory role of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and Assay Office London, and the use of scientific methods in the authentication of antique plate. Lectures on detecting fakes will be delivered by scholars Timothy Schroder, former head of Christie's silver department, and Charles Truman, general editor of "Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Silver."

An afternoon hands-on session will offer participants the opportunity to examine examples from the Rogues' Museum of Fakes at the Assay Office London, the largest known collection of fraudulent English silver. Common fakes, such as spoons converted into forks, will be shown, as will objects with transposed marks and articles made from base metal. Questions such as how to identify an illegal-cast duplicate of an authentic original or how an expert decides on an object's authenticity will be addressed, as will legal issues.

Assay Office London is the internationally authoritative body for authenticating antique silver. This marks the first time that Assay Office London is presenting educational programs in the United States. A full-day seminar will also be offered Oct. 23 in New York City with the Bard Graduate Center and Christie's.

Information on Dickenson's VMFA lecture is available by telephoning (804) 340-1405 and on-line at www.vmfa.museum. Information on the seminar in Williamsburg is available by telephoning Brenda Howard at (757) 220-7507 or by e-mailing bhoward@cwf.org. Telephone (212) 501-3011 for details on the New York seminar, or look on-line at www.bgc.bard.edu/public/special_events.shtml.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is an educational institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The museum is on the Boulevard at Grove Avenue.