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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

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Permalink Reply by Mr_Angry on September 21, 2019 at 9:14pm

I have it in writing. And as I don’t expect money back I gave no problems giving her the month. If she ghosts me I do the necessary paperwork. As I’ve written, a life’s lesson, and a store I’ll never buy from.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 21, 2019 at 9:35pm

I don't believe it. The items could be sold (easier?) w/o that COA anyway, no?

Permalink Reply by James on September 21, 2019 at 7:01pm

Thanks for posting this discussion, A. I enjoyed hearing about your experiences and growth as a collector. There’s quite a learning curve, huh? It’s too bad about your Las Vegas scam of $1900 which would probably be $3500 or so today. At least now you have authentic examples. Welcome to the site.

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Permalink Reply by Mr_Angry on September 21, 2019 at 8:28pm

I’m glad to share my experiences if it helps others; failure is the best teacher. When Donald Frangipani screwed me I heavily researched for my next purchase. A colleague of mine also is a Yankees collector and was showing me something he wanted to buy. When I saw the J. DiMaggio COA I knew to steer him clear.

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Permalink Reply by James on September 21, 2019 at 8:46pm

I’m with you. I’ve been scammed on autographs a time or two myself. My learning curve has cost me at least a few hundred, probably more over time. Fortunately though, I’ve also picked up some items at really good prices that have made up for some of that loss too. I usually research a lot and get opinions on items before I buy pricey items in particular. I’ve learned so much on this site. And most people here know to stay away from anything tied to “Forensic Document Examiners” like Frangipani, Drew Max, Christopher Morales, and others. It’s been awhile since I made a bad purchase...and hopefully it stays that way!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 21, 2019 at 8:51pm

Antiquities has known Don Frangipani's well-earned reputation for authenticating forgeries as genuine for decades.

To give you an idea what Antiquities is like, you'll find a Beatles full band-signed guitar is for sale at $16,995. No intact Beatles signed guitars are known to exist. If one did it would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars—or more: http://www.antiquitieslv.com/the-beatles-signed-guitar-by-4/

Antiquities has 6 full band-signed Beatles albums for sale. One at $9,995 and 5 for $16,995. While occasionally one sells cheap, the ones shown are worth about $30,000 on the low end and $80,000+ on the high end: http://www.antiquitieslv.com/search.php?search_query=beatles

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Permalink Reply by Mr_Angry on December 26, 2019 at 6:22pm

Just wanted to update everyone on this. I've pinged Toby Stoffa a few times since I first posted this in September and I've not gotten any update. She did tell me that her expert needed more time and that if I wanted to just give a negative review and submit her to the BBB and Nevada attorney general I should just do that as there's nothing she could do that would satisfy me.

I'm not out for blood and I certainly don't expect anything as it has been twenty years, so I gave her a bit more time. If I don't hear back anything in the New Year (as it is the holiday season, so responses are going to be delayed) then I'll just follow through on my original intent, leaving a negative review, submitting a complaint, and walking away.

I would not buy from Antiquities Las Vegas again, and I would recommend anyone serious about purchasing memorabilia stick to sellers who offer authentication from known sources or reputable authentication providers.