Authenticity is Everything
Thoughts on Epperson COAs?
Hello All:
I know authenticating is a tricky business (and Roger may have even participated in discussions on this site at one point) but is it just me or is he FAR less reliable than PSA, Beckett, and JSA? This would encompass not only Beatles but all historical and musician autographs. They all of course make mistakes but Epperson seems to pre-certify a high percentage of non genuine. I was browsing RR auctions and they seem to rely on him for a lot of pre-authentications but so much is obviously not authentic it is a shame. Meanwhile all of the Tracks, Beckett, PSA and JSA look fine. I am not an authenticator but even my not-so-professional eye can easily spy the abundance of items on RR that only are pre-certified by Epperson and are not genuine.
He must have a niche but I do not know what it is.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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Roger's specialty is music. It's highly unlikely that an autograph lot offered on RR with Epperson's COA is not genuine. Post ones you're concerned about.
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Permalink Reply by Darren To Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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Check out the Bob Marley signed album on RR.
https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/349658607110670-bob-m...
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It looks real to me. Here's a similar one Goldin sold authenticated by BAS:
https://goldin.co/item/bob-marley-signed-inscribed-survival-vinyl-a...
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Thanks Steve. Ironically for the RR, I did send it for a Beckett quick opinion and it was sent back with unlikely genuine. We know those do not hold an incredible amount of weight but I did agree with their conclusion. Neither looks typical for a Marley to me honestly but most seem to be in ballpoint pen so maybe that is throwing me off. Still the inscriptions and spacing on both I have never seen before either and strangely are both on the same album with the same bold ink with the same placement?
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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva To Darren on
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I'm in agreement with you Darren. From the examples I've seen, Marley usually had a far lighter and sketchier hand. You have to remember that Roger has probably only given his quick opinion to RR based on a scan. You have to spend another $300 (gone up!!!) to get a proper opinion from him through RR.
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The Marley sold for $4,400 including buyer's premium etc. I think we can conclude that the market was skeptical, despite pre-authentication from Roger and a "full letter of authenticity" from JSA. Maybe RR was skeptical too - the estimate was an extremely modest $2,000+.
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https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/349666607110663-beatl...
I do not like this one either. A Paul signature and sketch.
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This is another one I find concerning with multiple aspects of Lennon.
https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/349731307110660-beatl...
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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on
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You posted this in the Beatles forum. Have you seen this discussion:
https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/a-cut-up-beatles-ne...
or this one?
https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/jsa-authenticated-b...
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Thanks Ballroom and yes, I have viewed those fascinating threads. The other non Epperson authenticators certainly do authenticate poorly at times also but based on their volume of submissions it seems their percentage of errors is lower.
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The problem is that you’re posting links to Beatles autographs that look authentic while saying that Beckett, PSA and JSA look fine.
Here’s PSA authenticating SoCal forgeries:
https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/mccartney-and-starr...
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