Collecting contemporary entertainers is an incredibly popular hobby. Movie stars, TV personalities, comedians, stage actors and actresses are just some of the categories autograph collectors love. As professional appraisers, we see thousands of signed celebrity photos each year. Not surprisingly, most of them are not authentically signed. Autograph collectors must understand that the volume of […]
We can’t fool you! You know that the answer to the question “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” It’s Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. But the answer to the question “Who signed Grant’s memoirs?” is a little trickier. After he left office, Grant fell on hard times and lost his fortune […]
If you ask Leon Castner “What’s a holograph?” and he’ll say, “It’s all Greek to me.” He’s right! Holograph come from the Greek words “graph” (writing) and “holo” (with the hand). Ask Daniel Webster, and the old dictionary writer would probably reply, “It’s a document written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose signature […]
Terminator III? No…. R2D2 turned crook? No… Robocop gone bad? No… This mechanical forger goes by the name of “Autopen.” It has become a modern technological wonder for busy VIP’s, celebrities, and politicians, but has become a headache for autograph collectors. Knowing that autopens exist is not enough. An autograph collector must be able to […]
Beware of White House photographs signed by Presidents and First Ladies. A new forgery style is on the market. As you know, there are thousands of pre-printed photographs issued from the White House. Most are “signed” in the large lower white margin. These photographs are pre-printed with facsimile signatures of the President and/or First Lady. […]
He was a composer, teacher, publisher, bandleader and musician. William Christopher Handy, best known as W.C. Handy, earned the title Father of the Blues. His most famous works; St. Louis Blues, Memphis Blues, and Yellow Dog are known worldwide. Handy was born in Florence Alabama on November 16, 1873, the son of a preacher. He […]
Perhaps the most famous mathematical equation of modern time is Albert Einstein’s “E=mc2. Although most of us have seen it, many folks have no idea of what it actually means. Well relax, we won’t discuss quantum physics here. I will however share information about the many letters sent by the “Energy Committee of Atomic Scientists” […]
Collecting contemporary entertainers is an incredibly popular hobby. Movie stars, TV personalities, comedians, stage actors and actresses are just some of the categories collectors love. Although I do not collect contemporary personalities, we see thousands of signed photos each year. I am concerned with the illusion that most of these items are authentic. It is […]
Last week I was going through my files and came across my ‘education folder’. The ‘education folder’ is a file full of most of my major buying mistakes form my early days as an autograph dealer in the 1980. It is so named, because every time I made a mistake, I learned – – the […]
There has been a great deal of ‘chatter’ lately about unqualified appraisals of autograph material. Improper and unprofessional appraisals are being provided to many unsuspecting collectors and donors. The potential financial damage to you and your collection can be devastating. Proper appraisal procedures are not being followed. Important valuation techniques are being overlooked. Untrained, incompetent […]