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Authenticity is Everything
Fake Freddie Mercury Letter w/ Epperson LOA
So not only is this not Freddie Mercury's handwriting, but it is also packed full of incorrect information about Mercury. Whoever wrote this claims to be Freddie and claims to have gone to school in Switzerland? Mercury never attended school there. This can't be a genuine Epperson LOA right?
Update: The LOA was from Roger Epperson and the item was indeed fake (please see thread for proof and details). Both Epperson and Gold agreed the item was not genuine and buyer was refunded in a timely manner.
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Screenshot_2016-09-13-17-27-37.png, 2.7 MB -
Screenshot_2016-09-13-17-25-42.png, 2.9 MB
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Screenshot_2016-09-13-17-29-57.png, 1.4 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Gold on
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Thanks for your response. As I said, I got this from an extremely reliable source, but since there are questions I have taken it down, and written to him for more clarification. Stand by.
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Permalink Reply by Innuendo on
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One last thing before I wrap it up for the night- just to clarify (as I wouldn't want any kind of confusion about it). I questioned the authenticity of LOA not because of the seller- but because Rogers LOA has been faked before as has PAAS, and before I went out saying he issued this LOA, I wanted that to be confirmed first. I know this letter was sold before as it was up at auction a few months back, so please know that the question about the LOA had nothing to do with Jeff. I did not see anything on his page saying he himself obtained the LOA, so I just wanted to make sure it was from Roger vs it was given to Jeff when he got it. Thanks guys. I'll tune in later today.
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Permalink Reply by Fran on
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I fully agree with Innuendo. What a surprise that RecordMecca sells this letter written by Freddie's lover at that time to a fan!!!. I'm also surprised that Epperson authenticated this... Big mistake!!! Nothing matches with Freddie's handwritting. NOTHING. And reading it... I nearly died laughing, and of shame!!!
The author of this letter just wanted to laugh at this fan. I have no explanation why he wrote this ridiculous letter. Totally agree with Innuendo. And again, so surprised with RecordMecca and Epperson!!!!
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Permalink Reply by QueenMuseum Queencollector on
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Hi everybody,
I think Innuendo is right. The most important issue on that letter is that it's not matching the Freddie's handwriting at all.
The letter was one of three put on auction three years ago and here is the link in which you can see the lot
http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/3-handwritten-letters-signed-...
While in the first letter there's a (bad) attempt to imitate Freddie's handwriting, I hope everybody can see how the other two differs from the first.
I think that when you have two pages with a lot of handwiritng lines it should be more easy to spot fakes from original. it's not like examinating a single signature.
So according to who wrote the letter Freddie is living between London NY and LA. So this focus the era of the letter in early 80's/ late 70's and we can compare its style from known genuine examples you can spot for example in the Queen Lyrics book, an official publication where there a re many images of Freddie's handwriting coming from the Queen Production Archives.
The writer asks Carol no to use the The Pembridge road address (this was the address Queen Production and Fan Club had in mid/late part of their history) but another one unknown.
The Swizterland part is embarassing. Even in early Queen bios and press kit stuff/interviews you always find informations of Freddie being born, yes in Africa (but Freddie would wrote his real native country, which is Zanzibar), but also that he moved in India where he attended school up to when he was 16/17.
So who wrote the letter didn't know much about Freddie's life, in my opinion so I tend to exclude some official provenance.
I said this because in over 25 year of Queen collecting I have learned that unfortunately there are some fake items, we call them secretarial signatures, which seems to have official provenance. I have learned this at my own expences .
Lately, replying to Jeff. I'm Ferdinando Frega, runner of Queenmuseum.com for the last 20 yrs and one of your happy customer when I can afford those great Queen stuff you have. You probably remember that the stunning Freddie's letter to Mr Holzman, (Elektra record founder) you had for sale year ago which came in my collection.
That is my point of view, I'm not a certified authenticator, just a long time collector who tries to share his experience.
All the best
Ferdy
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Update: Roger agrees he made a mistake in approving this item. Just heard back from him. His reply is as follows. "Thanks for your email.
Yes that is my LOA and I have to admit that I made a mistake on this one. I have to agree with you that it is not authentic. Odd though that I haven’t seen more of these pop up anywhere since. I have talked to all involved in the letter (and there are some very good dealers involved in this) and I believe we are all in agreement now.
Thanks for the heads up
Roger"
I appreciate that, and I'm happy to see he understood my intentions were good. Thanks to everyone for having a look and taking the time to read into it.
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Thanks Roger. As you can see, humans do occasionally make mistakes, but a truly credible dealer or expert is always willing to take another look, as we did in this case. Obviously no one meant to deceive. I will be returning this to the dealer who sold it to me. Happily it didn't sell, and no one could have been hurt anyway, as I guarantee authenticity with no time limit. That's the most important thing to look for when buying anything. No lifetime guarantee should mean no deal!
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Permalink Reply by Mark Saurin on
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IMO Roger has gained more TRUST & respect.There is no shame in making a mistake the shame is when he/she denies the mistake wben knowing the true fact. I for one salute Mr Epperson. Good on you all
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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on
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+2
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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on
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Classy move on both your parts Jeff.
Roger relooking it and overriding his original opinion and your taking it down is something this hobby doesn't see enough of. Both gained more in my book.
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Permalink Reply by Cogo on
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Good work Innuendo! And I must give credit to Jeff Gold for taking the discussion and pulling the letter off the market!
Also, I still have the deepest respect for Roger and his opinion. Actually maybe even more after this, since it takes a real man (or woman...) to admit his mistakes!
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