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How important is a back story/Provenance to your autographs

So i have just noticed an autograph i used to own listed with a major auction house with a so called detailed letter of provenance ,the owner tells how he attended the show and gives full  details of how he obtained the autograph ,the story is very detailed it is however a total fabrication , i dont want to say which item or auction house it is as i really dont want any hassle from it i had enough of that last year  never again ,people may be able to put two and two togethor and work out what it is,i am thinking of letting the auctioneers know its not their fault they are a decent house they can only go on the story they are told 

I owned the item around 7 years ago it had no back story or details at all i found out the history of it because of the signature on the back and tied the two artist togethor to a particular place and time i sold the item on a year or so later after having it matted /mounted and framed with no story at all just a time and place where it was signed ,a few months ago i saw it on e bay with a total b******* story quite laughable it was told as if they obtained the signature and had owned it since then so i know its all a lie, im unsure if someone bought it on e bay or if the same seller has consigned it to the auction house but its up with the same long story and its still matted as i sold it with the photos i used

Would this annoy you if you bought it and found out the story was a total lie or would it not bother you either way do you think it happens often in order to get a better price and has anyone come across something similar     

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HI Ballroom no i havent 5 or 6 days on i found that a bit odd i thought they would be straight on the case as they dont have to end the item just do away with the story ,perhaps they have to end it to change the description i dont know 

Thanks, Rogers. If they were to do away with the story, it would cause doubt about the authenticity of the item. Sure, there are false stories of provenance for the purpose of getting a better price for an authentic item, but I think more often it’s to make potential buyers comfortable with fake ones.

your right the worse the signature the better the story

I’m semi retired now from graphing, I only go out when it’s something I really like and that doesn’t always mean valuable, but to be 100% honest I never really give the back story/ history of the items I sale unless the buyer asks me for it, I do usually have them authenticated or at least a photo of the celeb signing during the time I got it done, there’s probably only one item I would give a back story on in my collection and that’s because of the item not so much the signature, so as seller I never give a back story and that’s the same way I make my purchases, I could care less about the story as long as the signature looks authentic 

ON a slightly different topic i like a good story and they can add a lot of value to a signature i like to know where my item was signed so i can frame it with handbills,tickets or something from that show but you have to be able to spot the fake ones about a year ago maybe a bit more an authentic Hendrix sold for around £8500 UK it was a decent signature on a guitar string packet the woman who got in 1967 was at the auction Jimi had signed the string packet to her it was nice but wouldnt have made 8 without her being there or the story ,a week after i was bidding on some vintage guitar strings on e bay they had recognisable packaging and identifiable markings etc i didnt win ,a month or two later the same woman has a packet of guitar strings in the auction apparently obtained from Hendrix on the same night-yeah she never mentioned that first time around ,they were the ones from e bay a month earlier they sold at auction for a couple of thousand the trouble is once you can prove you met Hendrix or another big 60s star you can live on that for years pulling stuff out of the bag over and over again there are a couple of families who have done this for 40 years and even passed the story on through generations so the sons and daughters are cashing in aswell i wont mention any names but any Hendrix collector will know who  b******* stories they come out with   

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