High quality Persian rugs are items that many of us would like to own. The problem is that most of us have no idea how to tell high quality Persian rugs, from just stunning Persian rugs that are replicas.

The only things that matter are our satisfaction, and whether or not we got a fair price. If you are collecting the carpets as investments that is when you should really be concerned with whether or not you are getting high quality Persian rugs, or replicas of these famous carpets. Here is some advice on finding those rugs:

Inspect the carpet for evidence of repairs.

This is especially true of any carpet that is being sold as an antique. You want to see if the piece has ever been repaired. Most of the time an antique carpet will have had some minor repair work done to it. Look at the repair to try and determine the extent of the damages that were done.
Assess the colors of the carpet to try and determine if the colors have stayed true since the carpet was created, or if the colors have faded some over the years.

The fading of some colors actually make the rugs look warmer, and more inviting to some people, but when the dyes have faded the value of the piece may be slightly less than it should be.

Look at the edges of the carpet very carefully. Some of the artists wove their signatures into the edgings like painters sign their canvases. These signed pieces may be valued slightly higher than items that not signed.