Beatles Autographs

Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 10, 2021 at 4:56pm

Where was it for sale? You can usually an autograph by the company it keeps. The framing alarmed me because the forgery dealers use similar but I've seen legit items framed that way too.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on December 10, 2021 at 5:04pm

Agreed. I asked the auction house about the COA, but didn’t receive a reply. It will likely be from one of the usual suspects.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on December 10, 2021 at 5:12pm

Here’s the auction description:

The Beatles - an important original autographed ' The Beatles - Yesterday And Today ' "Butcher" cover artwork poster (possibly a printer's colour key proof), signed to the bottom by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison (1943-2001). Signed in black ink, to the margin. Professionally mounted alongside an autograph from John Lennon (1940-1980) on white paper, in black ink. Mounted in a laser cut mount, with Beatles logo and plaque. Framed and glazed. Total size approx; 108cm x 62cm. With a COA. Roger Epperson opinion 'Authentic'. Yesterday and Today is remembered primarily for the controversy surrounding its original cover image. Known as the "butcher cover", it was taken by photographer Robert Whitaker and shows the band dressed in white coats and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of raw meat. Although the photo was intended to be part of a larger work critiquing the adulation afforded the Beatles, the band members insisted it was a statement against the Vietnam War. Others interpreted it as the Beatles protesting the record company's policy of "butchering" their albums for the North American market. In response to outrage from record retailers, the LP was withdrawn and the cover replaced with a shot of the band posed around a "steamer" trunk.The print itself in this display is likely a colour key proof of the original artwork. We are unable to remove the item from the frame to inspect it further, but we cannot find this piece as a commercially available print or poster. It is marked ' Color By Barclay ' to the top, and features printing lines around the edge. The print is high gloss, and clearly of some age. Whilst the autographs have been authenticated, we are unable to precisely verify what the print is.

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Permalink Reply by michelle on December 10, 2021 at 6:39pm

The auction house has a mixed reputation, - I agree very low price if genuine. There were a few nice genuine pieces in the sale yesterday but a lot of fakes. One thing that would keep the bidding low imo is that the auction no longer accepts ccards above £200, bank transfers only or direct debit cards in person and the framing would be a red flag to many people imo

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on December 10, 2021 at 7:57pm

That’s true about the framing, and “with a COA” doesn’t inspire confidence either.

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Permalink Reply by FB on December 13, 2021 at 2:29pm

The auction house wrote me back days before the start date and told me that the original COA was from a place in Las Vegas. They went on to say Roger Epperson did a quick opinion on them and gave his approval.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on December 13, 2021 at 4:22pm

They didn’t tell you which place in Las Vegas issued the COA? Antiquities? The Art of Music? They mentioned Epperson in the auction description, but not the issuer of the COA. Not good.

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Permalink Reply by FB on December 13, 2021 at 8:43pm

Here's what they wrote:

The COA that accompanies the item is sadly, nothing special. It's from the shop that the vendor purchased the item from in American whilst on holiday over there and contains zero useful information, and in many ways I feel actually detracts from the incredible item - hence why we've not really mentioned nor photographed it. It is an incredibly rare item, that has been framed and presented by a 'rock and roll' type shop in Las Vegas and given a worthless certificate that carries no weight.

I have had these signatures looked at by some of the words leading experts and they all agree that they are real - Roger Epperson was the one who would let us use him name in the description, and if you know of him then you'll know how much weight that carries. I can also supply the emails to prove this if needs be.

I am rather hoping that the eventual buyer would reframe the autographs and get it authenticated by PSA, Tracks or ACOA with a proper certificate from someone that actually means something.