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Permalink Reply by roger epperson on February 12, 2013 at 9:30am

RR Auctions hired me to solve a problem, problem solved. They are a class act auction that stands behind anything they sell. If they made an error in the past they will back it up with a refund. The music autograph business grew very fast in early 2000 and I was the only full time dealer/authenticator of music autographs. In the mid 2000's they hired me and 99.9% of their music problems have been fixed. They have always done a great job though even before I came on board but music autographs seem to be the toughest for dealers and auction houses to keep up with. The forgers are always getting better and better.

Permalink Reply by Rich on February 12, 2013 at 9:36am

Just to follow up on the bad U2 stuff from the pre-Roger era. You can tell when Roger was hired, because the quality (i.e. authenticity) of the items listed does a drastic 180 turn.

Permalink Reply by Bill Panagopulos on February 12, 2013 at 2:38pm

A lot of things have changed for most reputable auction houses since then. Those were the days before many auction houses brought in independent authenticators.

Please, Steve! The following "reputable" auction houses do not depend on "independent authenticators", and probably never will:

CHRISTIE'S, SOTHEBY'S, ALEXANDER HISTORICAL/ALEXANDER AUTOGRAPHS, HERITAGE, DOYLE, SWANN, CHRISTOPHE STICKEL, PACIFIC BOOK, IRA & LARRY GOLDBERG, REGENCY SUPERIOR, QUINN'S, JAMES JULIA, ACORN, MOHAWK, FREEMAN'S, and a dozen others that will come to mind with a little effort.

I looked for the "many" auction houses you cite as using third-party authenticators. Excepting sports dealers, I found two: COACH'S CORNER and R&R.

Reputable, experienced auction houses have the talent and knowledge in-house to authenticate and properly describe their material. Those who don't, or believe they need to "pitch" their material more aggressively, use these salesmen.

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 12, 2013 at 3:36pm

At least four of those named use outside consultants for certain specialties. They just don't advertise it.

And a few others should.

Permalink Reply by Bill Panagopulos on February 12, 2013 at 5:12pm

Zip -

For specialties such as posters, Hollywood, baseball and other niche items, agreed - but by and large the auctions I mention are self-vetting and have in all done a pretty good job of it.

Another question - I wonder WHY those that surreptitiously use TPAs don't advertise the fact? Are they afraid of ridicule or condemnation?

Comments, anyone?

And, Steve, as much as I respect you...my opinion, you shouldn't have fiddled with the title of the post. You are, of course, free to comment positively or negatively, or even delete the entire post, but to indirectly "editorialize" without mentioning that you had made the change smacks of censorship. If the post were a slanderous anti-Koschal posting or something equally provocative, would you have done the same?

The definition of a forum is a place for the free exchange of ideas and opinions. You really didn't do it justice this time around. But what do I know?!? I sell fascist documents! I only want the "trains to run on time"!

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 12, 2013 at 6:43pm

Bill,

I posted here that I rewrote the title when I did it.

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 12, 2013 at 8:35pm

Bill,

I thought you used Roger Epperson for modern music. You don't?

"Surreptitiously" is a word that implies deception, Bill, and that is not the case at all. Was Christie's New York being deceptive by using Jim Lowe for decades, but not listing his name in every lot he authenticated? The truth is that the checks and balances that come from using reputable independent authenticators yield more reliable results overall.

Permalink Reply by roger epperson on February 13, 2013 at 4:59am

Bill

I would consider music autographs as a specialty. You have even asked for my help from time to time. It's not a catagory that many have spent a lot of time to learn and learn correctly as it just as of recent has made its way to the top catagories in autographs.

Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on February 12, 2013 at 3:35pm

I just hope the buyers of those forgeries posted in this thread get their refund. I just wonder if early auctions for other bigger musical names have the same kind of items mixed in. Maybe someone will have the time to look one day, but that takes alot of free time to scour the archives. No doubt Roger has cleaned up the music items a million percent. And i would purchase a music autograph from RR in a second knowing Roger has looked at it. Unfortunately though it does appear that before he was brought in, that alot of questionable items got out.

Permalink Reply by Jay on February 15, 2013 at 9:40pm

I observed something tonight at RR Auction. I did a quick opinion on lot #700 when it was on ebay in January. I sent it into PSA quick opinion and they said likely not genuine. Now I see it on RR Auction site as pre certified. I am confused and I have attached a link of what PSA sent me in January. When it was on ebay it had a Global Authentic COA. It no longer says Global COA on the RR auction site.

http://www.psacard.com/quickopinion/viewopinion.aspx?id=1vaz8dZ%2fM4YA

Permalink Reply by Jay on February 15, 2013 at 9:49pm

If you search the ebay item 160954949482 on google it will show the ebay original listing.

Permalink Reply by Chad B on February 15, 2013 at 9:58pm