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Authenticity is Everything
One fake and two hopefully real signatures
In 1999 I purchased a Lou Gehrig autograph from Antiquities International, at the forum shops in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. I was young(er), the internet wasn't quite the thing, and I was making my first major autograph purchase. Earlier this year I was taking a lot of my collectibles out of storage, and when I really looked at the Lou Gehrig autograph when compared with exemplars it did not look right. Add to that the COA was from Donald Frangipani and I was more than prepared when it came back from PSA as likely not genuine. I'm uploading the signature only to add to the list of fakes on this site, and to serve as a warning for others. Realistically autographs from Las Vegas should stay in Las Vegas.
I'm also providing two images of autographs, one of Babe Ruth, and the other of both Ruth and Gehrig. The Babe Ruth autograph I purchased in 2006 and has prominence, it was the grand prize from the Tristar Hidden Treasures 2005 set, of which I have the letter the original owner received. In addition this item has JSA authentication and I'm happy to provide the certificate number if there are any questions. I believe this item is genuine, I'd just love another opinion.
The other item is a dual autograph of both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that I just purchased from eBay. Any eBay item I look at I scrutinize closely, and the "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" rule applies, as well as COAs from questionable sources. I was watching seven different auctions to try to replace my Lou Gehrig, and all of them came back from PSA with a quick opinion of "likely not genuine" so I didn't move forward. This dual signature comes with JSA and I've verified it on their website. It looks good to me and it has a history, but again I'd love another opinion, either to make me feel good about myself or make me realize I'm not as smart as I thought I was.
Thankfully only the Lou Gehrig autograph I had came back as not genuine. Everything else I submitted PSA said was good.
And I wish I knew about this website, only just recently did I find out about it, as I was going back and forth with the owner of Antiquities about my forged Lou Gehrig signature. Thankfully she has pulled any item with a Donald Frangipani COA from her stock. I paid $1,900 for the Gehrig twenty years ago and that money is gone and I accept it--I just don't want someone new to the hobby to suffer the same fate.
Tags: Babe, Frangipani, Gehrig, Lou, Ruth
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Don Webster on
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Sorry to hear about all your troubles.
I have a few questions if you don't mind.
Your telephone chats/emails were with Toby Stoffa. Is that correct?
She told you she would pull all her stock with Donald F. COA's. Is that correct?
Did you ask for a refund from her despite the time table?
Did she broach a refund for you?
Her "solution" to your problem is to tell you she's pulled all Donald F. COA's.
Is that correct?
BTW I love your log in name. Completely understandable.
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Permalink Reply by Mr_Angry on
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Yes, it is Toby that I"m dealing with via email. I phoned the store a month ago, after I got the results from PSA. I should clarify, I didn't do a quick opinion with PSA, I paid the full $300, sent the signature in for analysis, and got back a letter that basically said "no way is this genuine."
Anyway I was given Toby's email and asked to scan and send everything I had. A month went by, and I had followed up twice with no reply. This past week I let Ms. Stoffa know that while I didn't expect a refund for something from twenty years ago I didn't appreciate being ghosted, especially after I had sent in everything. I said I'd file complaints with the BBB and Nevada Attorney General, and on that she replied. She told me she had pulled any item with a Frangipani COA, and that she had sent my scans away to another third party for an opinion. She promised to get back to me in a month. It's been twenty years, I can certainly wait another month.
So, the solution, if any, is pending. What I did love is that I called Donald Frangipani's office and actually got to speak to him. He said the COA I had was forged, although if I were to send him my signature he'd be happy to render an opinion. I had a good laugh at that, I told Mr. Frangipani that my insurance agent wouldn't touch anything that he had authenticated. In short, I said "Donald, your name isn't worth the paper it's printed on." He didn't seem all that pleased, and we both hung up.
In the end I chalk all of this up to a lesson learned. No way would the future me buy that autograph back in 1999, it just didn't have the right paperwork and I didn't do my homework.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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I thought Antiquities had a lifetime guarantee of authenticity. It's very hard to get them to truly honor it, but since Toby Stoffa pulled anything with a Frangipani COA, she's admitting it's fake.
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I'm not sure if they do. I did see a news story from 2017 where some of the autographs purchased at Antiquities were refunded. I'm pragmatic, this was twenty years ago, I don't even have the receipt or credit card, only the day of the sale and the information I submitted with it.
What's ironic is that when I was in Cooperstown, NY, I bought an 8x10 photo that was signed by Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Duke Snyder. That was twenty-five years ago, and for whatever reason I kept the receipt and business card of the store I bought the item from (Mickey's Place). So of course when I submitted it to PSA that came back as genuine. Why did I keep the paperwork when I was 18 years old, but not five years later? No idea...
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I worked on that report. Was that where you found us?
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I'm glad to hear it's sending people our way.
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Thanks Mr. A for taking the time to answer my queries.
Interesting to note that you only received a reply when you threatened to escalate. Do you see it that way?
Do you find any consolation in her statement that she's pulled all the DF certified items? Was that designed to placate you?
I've known Toby for nearly 20 years although I've never purchased any thing from her I visit her shop every time I'm in Vegas. It's eye candy right?
Never made a purchase because I don't trust her. Never have.
I wonder how you would like this to end up?
Because I suspect what you would like to have happen and what will happen are two different things.
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I’m glad that there are no more Frangipani COAs in her store inventory, that’s enough. And if she’s feeding me a line, what can I realistically do?
As I said, I’m pragmatic. Do I expect a refund? No. That money from twenty years ago is gone. If anything happens I’ll be surprised. But she promised me an update in a month. If that doesn’t happen I make good on my promise to complain to the BBB and NV Attorney General. And I expect that would be the end of it.
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Thank you
I hope you will keep us posted?
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