Most people can tell a piece of Weller pottery when they see one. It has the name Weller right on the bottom. But did you know that most of the plain color Weller we see with the large scrawled name is not the stuff that made the pottery famous? Weller was the invention of a […]
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 […]
Four Score and Seven Years Ago someone printed copies of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and gave them away. Today people are selling them as the real thing. Now I’m not sure if it was 87 years ago, but there are a number of printed facsimiles of that most famous work floating around the country. It is […]
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 […]
Americana: Is There Such a Thing? Each January, New York and other major cities vie for customers and big bucks at their annual Americana auctions. These are supposedly different from other auctions during the year in that they consist of specifically American made or consumed goods. That limits the field somewhat, since most of everything […]
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. […]
Tea has been a very important drink to the people of our country, although perhaps not quite as popular as in other places of the world. Ever since the infamous tea party in Boston Harbor, we’ve found ingenious ways to store and serve the hot beverage, most of which are highly collectible. Since tea was […]
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 […]
