Buyers and sellers beware: The country's dire economic woes have created an explosion in the number of fake antique furniture and reproductions on the market.

Fake antique furniture and reproductions have always been a cause for concern. But the difference now is that more fake antique furniture is flooding the market than ever before, bought by unsuspecting buyers.

So how do you make sure that you don't unknowingly buy fake antique furniture or a reproduction?

Visual inspection is critical to detecting fake antique furniture or reproductions.

Research, Research, Research

This requires research. You'll have to know what is appropriate -- and what is not appropriate -- for the era in which the antique furniture was made.

Finding inappropriate features is a red flag; this means your furniture is most likely a fake.

Here are a few tips that will help you avoid buying fake antique furniture or reproduced antiques:

Inspect the antique furniture. You should look at the wood, joints, tool marks, hardware and wood oxidation to determine its true age.

Furniture doesn't lie. Wood, for example, darkens and shrinks the older it gets. It's for this reason that genuine, antique furniture that is made of wood often appears misshapen; it shrinks with age.

An in-depth inspection will tell you most of the details you are trying to discover.

Use, wood as an indicator of age. Wood tells the age of antique furniture. For example, before the early 1700s, walnut was the wood of choice among Europeans and U.S. colonists for Queen Anne tables and chairs, and for benches and cupboards.

Mahogany was popular during the mid-18th century for formal dining room furniture. Oak was popular before 1700, but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1900s in American mission furniture and Arts & Crafts designs. Oak is still very popular.

Rule out certain building materials. Antique furniture typically isn't made of plywood or particle board, because those building materials didn't exist in the pre-20th century.

Examine how furniture is assembled. Certain joints and cuts are synonymous with the era in which they were made.

Early craftsmen used mortise-and-tendon joints, dovetail joints and wooden pegs. Nails are also good indicators.

Rose head nails were common in the 1700s; cut nails abounded from the late 1700s to the late 1800s; and staples indicate more modern, 20th century manufacturing.

By paying careful attention to how furniture is made, you can determine the authenticity of your antique furniture.