If a new hat is bought every conference, hat B is likely the second-most-recent nondecoy hat, not the original from the first LessOnline. So hat A and hat B are not rival claimants to the title ‘the real hat’. Both are equivalently authentic, occupying a layer of realness above the decoy hats. One is simply more recent.
Celene has pointed out to me this tweet, from which we can conclude that if hat B exists it is not ‘the original hat’.
Incidentally, I have to buy a new golden hat for every conference because traditionally somebody steals my golden hat during the final hours.
If a new hat is bought every conference, hat B is likely the second-most-recent nondecoy hat, not the original from the first LessOnline. So hat A and hat B are not rival claimants to the title ‘the real hat’. Both are equivalently authentic, occupying a layer of realness above the decoy hats. One is simply more recent.