The History Buff, Inc. - Phone: (952) 937-0325
17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or Palm Beach, FL, 33480
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'It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds." (Ch. XIX The Duke and the Dauphin Come Aboard). ----------Mark Twain-Huckleberry Finn Certificates of authenticity, a term I had never heard before ten or twelve of them were bandied about authenticating clearly forged Elvis Presley manuscripts about five years ago, are as meaningless as the qualifications of those who have written them.-------Ken Rendell .http://www.kwrendell.com/forgeries.aspx Most individuals in this field are now aware of the third party authenticators (TPA's) and the claims they make for determining authenticity of autographs. This article will review how TPA's came about and what role if any they have to play in today's autograph hobby based strictly on the known facts. Authentication remains the conundrum or Gordian Knot of autograph collecting and, as this article will demonstrate, the problem of how to authenticate autographs may not be any closer to solution than it ever was. One thing is certain-there is no quick and easy road to resolving the authentication issue. Many experienced hobbyists and dealers believe that when collectors were buying autographs primarily from established , experienced and ethical dealers they were more likely to obtain authentic material than they are today by buying directly at auctions that rely on TPA's. In those days, then, there was no need for 'authenticators'. That was in part because it is individuals who do authentication not companies or groups. Furthermore, authentications are opinions not facts and good opinions in all fields are usually derived from individuals with long experience and a track record that has been tested. Furthermore a proper authentication occasionally may be difficult and time consuming especially if the expertise of multiple experts is required. The autograph hobby changed radically with the growth of the internet marketplace beginning in the early 1990's especially as the popularity of ebay and other internet autograph auctions took root. Prior to that the autograph industry was dealer-centric wherein a small number of true professionals bought wholesale at autograph auctions or at a discount from each other so that they could subsequently sell to clients at retail prices. In part they stayed in business because they could buy right and make a profit with their clients. Clients relied on the dealers to provide authentic autographs because these individuals usually were expert at spotting forgeries since the work of the legendary forgers of a bygone era like Spring and others were well known to them because they had years of experience studying the patterns of individual writings down through history. An established dealer network also allowed collectors to resell an item if it had been previously authenticated by a recognized dealer.( By contrast just try to resell an autograph purchased on ebay from an unknown source). So dealers brought value added to collectors in several respects.Then came the internet auctions where autographs often could be purchased at bargain prices and where no legitimate dealer was involved. When it became clear that many of these autographs were forgeries is when frauds saw an opportunity to reassure buyers that cheap goods could magically become authentic if only they were accompanied by 'certificates of authenticity'****backed by individuals with names like Frangipani and Prouty et.al (remember the Wizard's certificate awarding the Scarecrow a DOCTORATE OF THINKOLOGY to prove he had brains?). In a sense authenticators many of who were eventually banned from ebay replaced in large measure the function of ethical dealers and since the prices often were so attractive, and of course well below that of comparable items from a dealer, mendacity triumphed over common sense. We assumed that increasing complaints led to these people being banned but ebay contacted me after this article was first posted and said many were banned because they were involved in 'Operation Bullpen' the FBI sting against sports forgers.In any event the list of the banned authenticators can be accessed by following the link below. Follow the above link to Help Page, Listing policies, autograph items.Note that names of Frangipani and Prouty remain still enshrined in the ebay list of those whose COA's along with many others, have been banned from use in ebay auctions. As an aside, ebay has also even outlawed selling BLANK COA'S ON THEIR SITE. God help us that they would need to do that! As the mountebanks operating alone were exposed, new ones appeared in the form of the TPA's. The TPA's tried to structure themselves so as to gain credibility by claiming they employed panels of experts in all fields. This structure accomplished two things: it provided collectors security in numbers and it removed the single high profile authenticator from the line of fire. Thus, the names banned by ebay were replaced by organizations with a name in one case defined with letters that mean nothing (as far as we could determine)-like PSA/DNA. So in a sense, at least some of the TPA's put lipstick on the the 'individual ebay-banned authenticator ' pig. Some of these organizations even employed or still employ at least in one case an alleged forger as well as individuals with no bona fides. Dealers well known in the field who themselves may in fact have bona fides have lent their names to these organizations while at the same time have admitted they do not always see the autographs they authenticate. After these TPA's had been in business for some time their legitimacy began to be challenged in print and on various internet postings where their numerous mistakes were documented. One point-despite all of the criticisms that have been leveled against these organizations to date not one TPA, as far as I am aware, has ever answered the allegation(s) against them in print. In fairness my challenge to them is to answer some of those specific allegations and I will post their responses on this web site.In fact I have contacted PSA/DNA and asked them to respond to several specific questions such as have autographs been authenticated in their name that were never examined.SEE PART II. Failing any independent evaluation of the TPA's, at this point we have no idea what degree of competence these people actually have but dealers and collectors alike can infer that they certainly are not all they claim to be based on many documented errors and the anecdotal experiences of dealers who, for example, have had items returned because a TSA has judged it to be "not authentic" after the same item had been 'authenticated' in the past by the same TPA. That is correct----by the same TPA that 'authenticated' the item in the first place. In addition, we know that a well known individual 'authenticator' was shown certain autographs in a situation designed to measure his authenticating ability he failed to distinguish between numerous authentic and fraudulent items and that is a matter of public record. We are not aware of any other 'authenticator(s)' having been put to the same test as they should be. We also have first hand knowledge of a case when a well known 'authenticator' opined about the authenticity of a 'signature' during which he described the ink flow and pen stokes in excruciating detail of what was a printed signature : and the list of evidence continues to increase. The TPA's also are now advertising extensively on the internet. A survey of 20 or so such companies or individuals that did not include the PSA/DNA web site revealed the following. First it is not clear who is doing the authentications except on the sites that specialize in authentication of sports items. Second, the only individual authenticators with any standing in the field are primarily in sports. Third, many of these companies will offer opinions from scans probably because they know any sensible person would not send them material. Fourth, some made outrageous claims regarding the value of their methodology with one company even claiming they could date the ink in the autograph.There has been no response after several weeks to my question asking exactly what method they use to date ink. Dating ink is a high cost, high tech undertaking and also very expensive because it would involve an ink chemist.If you think Heidi Fleiss was expensive try to hire an ink chemist. Fifth, many authenticators claimed to be 'forensic document examiners' as if that qualified them to claim autograph authentication expertise: It certainly does not. At the conclusion of the survey we had found that only PASS-CO (http://www.pasco.com) outside the sports field had identifiable individuals with excellent bona fides doing their authentications and their approach to authentication appears sound. As a matter of full disclosure we have no association, financial or otherwise, with PASS-CO and we have never used their service nor did they review this article prior to it being posted. TPA's have flourished in part for the historical reasons already mentioned but also because anyone can claim they are 'autograph authenticators' since there is no training required and there is no structured academic curriculum they need to complete to become a certified authenticator : fortunately the same thing is not true for helicopter pilots or brain surgeons. What is sad in all of this is how some auction houses and even some dealers have joined forces with the TPA's in what we suspect is for the most part at least in some cases a big, lucrative con. Some auction houses even hide behind TPA 'certifications' rather than standing behind the material they sell and unscrupulous dealers use the TPA's to certify bad material. We have previously suggested how collectors and even dealers can protect themselves from auction house malpractice. What many collectors do not realize
is that the majority of autographs are easy for a legitimate
dealer to authenticate especially if you eliminate from consideration
modern Hollywood and sports. For example, there are certain categories
of autographs that, to the best of our knowledge, have never
been forged like a Lincoln military commission or a Washington
Society of Cincinnati certificate and there are many other examples
that fall into a category of autographs the authenticity of which
would be recognized by any competent dealer. Where you need the
knowledge and expertise of a master in this field usually is
for the rare and unusual item. Very often the circumstance is
that of the sudden surfacing of a previously unknown document
or manuscript with great historical significance the There is one more objection I have to the activity of these so-called authenticators. For those who in fact are doing this sort of thing without proper care and conscientious physical examination of items AND WITH NO COMMITMENT TO GETTING IT RIGHT, are, as someone with the same concerns pointed out to me recently, desecrating history. I have written about the role of autograph and manuscript collectors have in preserving history in an article titled AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING-MORE THAN A HOBBY. Those authenticators who knowingly are not performing competently are the moral equivalent of Winston Smith in The Ministry of Truth (Orwell's classic 1984)--mentioned in that article.We all have that sacred obligation to preserving history in the name of those who have gone before many of whom have given us so much. There are at least five possible remedies to the TPA problem. First, collectors need education on this subject and they must also understand clearly how their dealer or a given auction house will resolve questions of authenticity without hiding behind the opinions of TPA's.Collectors are not compelled to use their services.Second, the TPA's could submit their experts to an independent evaluation by known authentication experts (as requested by me) to determine objectively whether they or not they are competent.See PART II Third, dealers need to make clear in their catalogs and on their web sites how they will deal with TPA's in resolving issues of authenticity and whether or not they will rely on the opinions of TPA's under any circumstance. They should specify that they will not use TPA's to sell but then reject their opinions if the client wants to return an item. Based on our recently completed survey of dealer web sites we are one of the few dealers with an unambiguous written statement that we do not rely on TPA's for authentication and will not accept their opinion (s) to resolve an authenticity issue. It is time for more dealers to start stepping up on this issue. Fourth, dealers and real experts have within their capacity to found a legitimate authenticating authority to counter some of the illegitimate TPA's and there is some evidence that this may already be in the works as in the case of PASS-CO. The fifth but most draconian remedy would be legal action if either the authorities or some enterprising attorney believe they can prove these organizations have committed fraud or have been involved in a criminal conspiracy or both.For one thing there are allegations circulating among dealers that one of the TSA's has engaged in intimidation in a variety of ways.It is alleged that one of the TPA's ues their power to disallow items from being sold unless they put their own imrimatur of 'authenticity' on the autograph in question. Legal action would be important because in discovery we would learn, among other things, from sworn testimony whether or not it is true that certain auction houses have stacks of pre-signed COA's on hand from one of the leading TPA's that they fill in as needed for an auction . Many believe that this assertion is the most likely explanation as to why someone with stature in the field could mistake the signature of German Admiral Doenitz for that of American Admiral Chester Nimitz or how any credible expert could fail to recognize the well known stamped signature of President Andrew Johnson or an obvious secretarial signature of Theodore Roosevelt both of which incidents happened recently. We expect that if the TPA's continue down the same path and if the evidence that they are 'authenticating' items they never examine continues to mount then someone or some authority will eventually bring charges against one or all of them and anyone associated with or promoting them and that may end the problem at least temporarily.There is no law against being stupid but there is a law against making false misrepresentations that you are examining an item and rendering an opinion for a fee when you are not doing that. The FBI may be preoccupied keeping us safe but all con men please note--- they found time to go after the sports autograph forgery rings. Crooks make the mistake of underestimating law enforcement and that is why so many of them end up incarcerated. But we wonder if law enforcement ever engages in the calculus as to whether they really have an obligation to protect someone dumb enough to buy an autograph on the cheap based on a piece of paper signed by someone whose expertise has never been proven? In conclusion, to be fair, in my own experience there are individuals like John Reznikoff who are involved with the TPA's but who have considerarble expertise in the autograph field from whom you may under the condition outlined here get a quality opinion. The key to obtaining a solid opinion regarding authenticity is to engage an expert directly outside any TPA and, one on one, you may very well get a first class judgement on the authenticity of a given autograph. Of course there are many others who are able to fulfill the same function. By this approach and only by this approach will the collector have control over the process and only by this appraoch will you know with certainty who is offering the opinion. **We use the fictitious name 'Rangiorouty' to represent that group of 'authenticators' who have been judged not to be acceptable by those who investigated their work like the staff at ebay. We have never had an opportunity to evaluate the competence of any of the 'authenticators' banned from ebay. **** "Certificates of authenticity, a term I had never heard before ten or twelve of them were bandied about authenticating clearly forged Elvis Presley manuscripts about five years ago, are as meaningless as the qualifications of those who have written them."------Ken Rendell . Post on his web site under topic FORGERIES. http://www.kwrendell.com/forgeries.aspx Revised 9/26/08 El Fraley-The History Buff, Inc. |
| The History Buff - Authentic Historical Autographs & Collectibles 17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or Palm Beach, Florida 33480 |
eMail: thehistbuff@aol.com--Phone:
952-937-0325  |
