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Permalink Reply by Kyle M. on December 20, 2011 at 2:29pm

Hey Steve- I have been meaning to ask you this.  If an opinion is just an opinion could authenticators get in trouble for certifying bad stuff?  Or could they say it was just an opinion?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 20, 2011 at 3:30pm

Kyle,

It's not a crime to give an honest opinion, even a ridiculous one. But, as I understand it, if you give opinions you must have known are probably wrong--or don't do the job of analysis you said you did--that's fraud, and could be criminal.

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on December 20, 2011 at 10:00pm

Right, Steve.

It's not a crime to be wrong.

It may be a crime to know your wrong and tell people otherwise.  Likewise, it may be a crime to say you analyzed a piece when in reality all you did was sign a COA.

Of course, good luck getting someone to prosecute when it comes to bogus autographs.

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Permalink Reply by Kyle M. on December 20, 2011 at 11:19pm

Thank you Steve and Sidney!

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Permalink Reply by 029r4yc06b4rr on December 21, 2011 at 1:50pm

Ok everyone, i am in need of some advice. And when you look at this item you will also probably get some humor out of it as well. The very first autographs i bought were from you guessed it, NE autographs and Prestige autographs. I was a fool, pure and simple, i wanted a set of beatles autographs and when i looked online i was seeing prices in the thousands and thought that was rediculous and were rip offs. I had no idea what a set was truly worth, nor did i have any idea their was a problem with forgeries. I thought that if they had a buisness that was known to the public and were selling items for all to see, that they had to be good, otherwise they would have been shut down. So, in my ignorance, i bought a signed poster from NE autographs supposedly signed by Paul and John. It was a huge yellow submarine poster. I think i paid about 180 dollars for it. I then went to prestige autographs and paid 60 some odd dollars for a Ringo signature signed pic.

Well as i began to research things and my knowledge increased i had others look at them. The result, laughable fakes. After harassing NE autographs for about a week they gave me a refund,, and didnt even bother with wanting their poster back. Prestige said they would refund my money if i sent the pic back and i intended to do just that. However i forgot about it and it got thrown into a drawer where it gathered dust for the last 2 years.

Then a few days ago i found it. I still have the receipt, its in great condition, and the COA is with it. Now heres the thing, besides being a horrible forgery, the COA is the most hippocritical thing ive ever seen and dont know what to make of it. It states it insures the item for its lifetime that it is real and can be returned if found to be otherwise, but then it turns right around and states that returns must be done within the first month after purchase. What the ****? So its insured for the lifetime which means that if its found to be a fake at any point as long as the autograph exists, than they will take it back and give a refund. But yet, you can only return it within the first month? Am i missing something here? So i guess the lifetime of the autograph means only the first 30 days. Wow, All i can say is wow. Is this even legal? I was thinking of trying to get my money back now since i have everything still in the rappers, but do you think they will return it? The COA says 2 different contradicting things, so what should i do? lol.

But folks you can see for yourself how horrible this graph really is. And whats worse, i probably could have found an authentic Ringo TTM sig somewhere for not to much more if idve known better. As Chris Williams would have said, i was the dumn buyer who contributed to the problem, lol. And it was def true. But live and learn. All i can say to those who are new who read this, learn from my mistake. Dont buy from NE autographs or Prestige, they items are, lol, lets just say that your toilet paper is worth far more.

Heres the Ringo and COA, ill look and see if i can find the signed poster from NE. PS if anyone wants a huge yellow submarine beatles poster with 2 fake sigs on it, its yours. Its not worth anything, but might be cool to hang in a movie room or something. Its a nice poster.

Chris

Attachments: No photo uploads here

• Ringo Starr fake COA.jpg, 462 KB
• Ringo Starr Fake.jpg, 625 KB

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 21, 2011 at 11:01pm

Chris,

There is a difference between a return privilege and a guarantee. Prestige probably means you can return within 30 days for any reason. The guarantee is for authenticity only. It's not not unusual for the guarantee to be longer. I hope they honor it without making you jump thru hoops.

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on December 21, 2011 at 9:54pm

Publishing the truth is often a far better remedy than getting embroiled in litigation.

The amazing thing is that anyone with anything to hide would even think about suing Steve or other reputable people in the field.  Ultimately, the truth is going to come out because they're going to be deposed and cross-examined.  There's a reason the mafia doesn't sue people:  it's self-defeating.

Shady people who do go the lawsuit route also seem to employ second and third rate attorneys who aren't particularly bright and who have no knowledge of the business in question.  But they may be associated with name firms...so their bills aren't second rate.  You'd think the skell plaintiffs would have learned by now. 

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Joseph Saponaro on February 24, 2012 at 10:39am

OK, I know this is an old thread but as far as the Ruth sig, I don't believe I have ever seen an authentic example of Babe Ruth with the B and the a being so close to one another , Most examples show it looking more like

B abe Ruth and really that is the only thing I see so for that reason and the fact that it is written in pencil would be enough for me to leave it alone, however if it is not genuine whoever did this is dangerously close to his hand indeed, also all of the ones that turned out to be fake had the B and the a close like that, it is something thast always stood out about Babe Ruth's sig to me , that and the fact that authentic examples  seem to look like they say Babre Ruth, it kinda loks like he uses a script lower case r where he connects the b and the e in Babe

What was the outcome on this piece?  I really did not read the entire  thread ?

 

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