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Who can you trust?

Hi,

Ive recently put some money down on a signed piece purchased from antiquities of California pier 39 store SF. Initially I didnt have too many concerns as this was a big business with a seemingly solid reputation and I was able to look closely at the article as it hadnt been made up to a framed piece yet.

The article is a signed front cover of LIFE magazine from 1971 where Frank Sinatra working on behalf of LIFE mag took a photo of Frazier and Ali fighting which in turn became the cover. The item is signed by all three, great story and if it turns out to be legit ill be the happiest bloke in all of Aus!

However, after googling a few things I started to find examples of Antiquities merchandise called into question( particularly from the Vegas store). I contacted the manager at Pier 39 whos making mine up to freight to me and asked who was the authenticator for my particular piece.

He said Authentic Autographs Unlimited were the authenticators and appear to have a lengthy resume to back up their expertise. Already found some detractors to these guys on this site....

Can anyone add anything here that I could do to be confident in this piece or is what I have as close as Im going to get?

Regards,

Adam

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas Collins on November 17, 2013 at 3:25am

While I've never personally seen one piece of theirs that in my opinion was authentic, I take each piece and judge it on its own merit. However, I can't see the sigs! Got any close up pictures?

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Permalink Reply by Rich on November 17, 2013 at 10:22am

Just to reiterate what I said last night, I would not recommend buying any items from Antiquities, either the Vegas or San Francisco store. Their scheme seems to be selling mediocre forgeries that are dolled up with elaborate framing. My autograph knowledge isn't incredibly comprehensive, but I have not seen many - if any - authentic items being sold by that outfit. The forgeries I've seen them sell are inexcusable.

As for AAU, they are one of the most heavily criticized (to put it mildly) "authenticators" you will find mentioned on this forum. They are among the "faux" authenticators who exist primarily to authenticate forgeries. While things in this hobby aren't always black and white, they are among the bonafide "bad guys." Look up AAU and Drew Max on this forum for more insight.