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This Freddie Mercury autograph was given to me as a gift a few years back. The older friend, and an experienced autograph collector,had it in his possession from his sister, who got this signed in person, as he told me. I have no reason to believe he was lying.
I have to sell in unfortunately and I was either going to send it to PSA/JSA first, because I know many buyers/bidders will claim it to be fake, etc. I decided to put it on eBay instead and within a few hours, received a message claiming it was 110% fake. I truly do not believe this to be the case, but decided to take it down to eventually send to PSA/JSA when I get the extra $100, to make sure.
I wanted to ask for everyones opinion on this item. The sister wrote when and where it was obtained. At this time, I do have it matted and framed. Any opinions are welcome, but I will still eventually send it to PSA/JSA. Thanks guys! I have seen many examples on google etc....which are VERY similar to what I have,
A photographer contacted me in 2004 with a Rolling Stone magazine he said that Ray Charles signed backstage for him after a concert back in the early 1970s. I had just bought the company that owned Autograph Collector magazine and was fairly new to autographs period.
The writing was very big, very angular and lines met fairly well in the corners. I made sent emails and made calls and got the few examples out there we could find that were thought to have a decent chance of being genuine--there are so few and almost all that aren't outright forgeries are secretarial.
We published it all in an article called "Is it Really Ray?" None of the others looked like his. They didn't even bear the slightest resemblance to his. Yet he swore that his was signed by Ray Charles and he saw it. But it was backstage, not well lit, at some sort of distance and there were other people by Ray.
That man has become a friend over the years. He's a well-respected family man in his community and was the official photographer for the governor of his state at one time. I trust him implicitly. But when it comes to this album, I think what he thought he saw is not what really happened. Someone else signed it for Ray or helped him so much that Ray just let him lead his hand completely. Although no others have ever appeared that were similar.
Queen's Magic Tour was 30 years ago. Memories like these sometimes have a way of becoming what you want them to be over time. I agree that Adrian's are clearly not genuine in my opinion, although I'm nowhere near as good at Queen as others here. Perhaps they were signed by someone else backstage and Adrian didn't realize it. Perhaps he knows that they're not good.
But we can't read his mind, so let's not call him a liar on one example. Don't let that keep you from discussing the authenticity and situation as much as you want, though.
Steve
I appreciate your comments and thoughts...I have nothing to prove. As I said earlier they are not going anywhere. I had the best blast at that concert and I was one of the lucky ones...whatever anyone says...I don't care.
But some of the people here have been quite rude and I really don't want to be part of such a community. I don't need that kind of tosh from anyone...I don't think any of you would be that rude to anyone face to face.
Please take me off your website. Please delete me from here. Good luck to you all.
Adrian,
These members, like most members on Autograph Live, are passionate about authenticity. Forgers and sellers of forgeries are everywhere, with every kind of story you can think of. They show up here all the time thinking they can fool people. It naturally gives members a low tolerance for situations like this one, where someone has a story that doesn't match the autographs. I does rub me wrong when people use the term liar, though.
If you want, I'll remove your account this evening.
This is all great information and good points, Innuendo. My photographer friend with the Ray Charles didn't take any backstage photos either. He probably wasn't allowed to, but I forget.
I agree, nothing adds up here. More than anything, I'm uncomfortable with calling someone a liar. It's a term that often ends the productivity of a discussion.
"Autographs are in the big scheme of things extremely tough to authenticate...provenance is all."
I know absolutely nothing about Queen autographs. But I have been collecting sports memorability of all kinds for decades and my family has been involved in the art trade for even longer. I wanted to make one point.
I agree with Adrian that provenance is very important. So important that I believe it can, if strong enough, override expert opinion. However, a story is not provenance. Provenance, by definition, is verifiable. Ownership, location and chain of custody ect.. with documentation to support.
Anybody can make up a story. That certainly is not provenance. Absent of provenance, expert opinions is all that is left.
I won't call Adrian a liar. I am not knowledgeable enough to even have an opinion on those autographs. But I do disagree with characterizing a story as "provenance".
The last thing I will add, any story anybody tells is really irrelevant. Not even worth wasting time on. Given that one can't prove a negative, it doesn't make sense trying.
That said, below is an example of what I am familiar with regarding provenance. This is an early example of a early 1920s Pueblo Maria Martinez pot from New Mexico. Her early work was often unsigned. There were many copy cats at the time who's work has been represented as a "Maria" pot by less than honest dealers. A nearly identical pot from the same period by another potter may sell for $500 to $1000.
But with proper provenance, this one sold for $60,000.
The item wasn't sold on a story. It has real provenance.
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