Am I looking at an antique or not?
Here a few hints to look at when purchasing antiques and knowing the good pieces vs the reproduced or restored...

First, look closely at the hardware—levers, knobs, hinges, screws. Is it shiny and pretty or does it look aged?  Now days new hardware can also be made to look antique, so keep that in mind while looking over. Also, if you can find screws (usually visible on the back, if at all), are they Phillips or flat head? Phillips screws are a 20th-century invention, so if your piece is supposed to be from the 18th century but has Phillips screws, they have either been added in a recent restoration or it's a fake.

Drawers
This ties into the hardware issue. If your piece has drawers, take a drawer out and look at how the handles are attached on the inside of the drawer. Nuts are more common for antiques, while screws are more current times. Also check to see if the hardware has been replaced: usually there will be marks or holes on the wood around the hardware.

Look to see if the drawer has dovetails that connect the pieces together. Does the back of the drawer have dovetails? This is usually a sign that the piece is indeed antique—and high-quality at that, since rear dovetails are very uncommon even in antiques.

Drawers (and backs) are also usually one of the cheapest components in furniture. Look at the wood used in the drawers. Most modern pieces use plywood or pressed wood in drawer construction. The logic behind this move is simple: why waste expensive, solid wood that is hardly seen and needed to maintain every so often? Plywood, however, is another 20th-century invention, so if you're looking at pressed or composite wood and your antique is supposed to be Victorian, then that plywood was either added in a restoration or you've got a reproduction on your hands.

Finish
This is an easy one. High gloss finishes and polyurethane are 20th-century elements. Antique furniture was usually shellacked, meaning that it typically had a duller finish. This isn't to say that antique finishes can't be shiny and reflective, but they're not going to be high gloss, either. Shellack finishes were very often quite thick (up to a quarter inch!), so that's another—albeit slightly more difficult—indicator to look for.

We hope this has helped. Thank You.