Prim knows a fake when she sees one

The Order of the Tile: Secrets from the American Mahjong Table · Jul 30, 2026 · 22m

There is a particular light in late July that makes everything look finer than it really is, and Prim does not trust it for a moment. This week is about the fake, in every form it takes in American Mahjong. A stunning white and gold set is making the rounds online with a jaw-dropping price, and the room cannot agree whether it is real, a knockoff, or an image a machine simply dreamed up. Prim has thoughts. She also has the three tests a genuine vintage set can never fail, a proper introduction to a man who reads old tiles like books, and the story of the very first Mahjong counterfeit, which…