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Another messed up Elvis auction...

But this time, it's not Graceland's doing...

This auction,which is due for Sunday, January 3rd, is by a Michigan dealer who apparently either doesn't do any authenticating at all, or uses someone with terrible vision.

http://www.ebay.com/clt/collectibles-live-events/elvis-rock-n-roll-...

They have 3 autographed Elvis items up for bid --

EPs-l1600.jpg

EPs-l1601.jpg

EPs-l1602.jpg

Now, even to an untrained eye, it's apparent that none of these 3 signatures are alike -- clearly written by three different hands. So how that alone got by them is astounding.

Never mind that one of the signatures - on the record sleeve-- is mis-spelled to begin with! "Preseley" ???? Seriously?

Now the one that does look legit would be the gas station receipt, which ironically has the lowest starting bid of all three! I think that one is good.

I can understand when a seller - private or auction house -- doesn't do their due diligence for some reason and maybe doesn't know better, but how reputable do you look when you put up multiple items supposedly by the same signer and none of them look anything alike? Really bizzare.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 1, 2016 at 12:06pm

Good post, Patricia.

I agree with you that only the gas station receipt has a shot at being actually signed by Elvis. I think that one is probably genuine, even though I don't recall ever seeing an L like that in Elvis. Nice piece. On the bright side, I'd be surprised if anyone buys the other two. Hope I'm right!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Viola on January 1, 2016 at 2:19pm

The gas receipt has some positives, but seeing how bad the other 2 are (two of the worst Ive ever seen), Id be very careful.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on January 1, 2016 at 2:33pm

This is the third Elvis "signed" example we've seen of this same receipt in the same excellent condition.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 1, 2016 at 3:31pm

Thank you, Ballroom! I couldn't find them when I searched. Did you save the others?

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on January 1, 2016 at 3:58pm

Well, I thought it was a third example, but it's actually the same one that was posted previously. Here's a link to the discussion:

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/elvis-presley-signed...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 1, 2016 at 4:56pm

Two with that same open L in Elvis. No way. And the writing inscription on the other example isn't by Elvis in my opinion.

Thanks again, Ballroom.

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Cibiak on January 1, 2016 at 6:14pm

Actually, if you look very close at that other Chevron receipt in that thread, you can see the "l" in Elvis is closed loop. And that dedication portion is rather good, if not legit, too. The "y" in "your" is spot on, and so are a few other points. It doesn't look to "practiced" the way a forger would be, either.

Also I located what may have been the last time the current EBay Chevron invoice was on the market -- August 2012, and on this one, the reverse (or in this case, front) is shown too:

http://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/elvis-presley-signed-and-inscri...

Only went for $545 at that time, though.

I do tend to lend more credence to an autograph on a vintage document or receipt like this --if for no other reason than it would mean a forger would not only have to be good at convincingly duplicating the autograph, but they'd also need to obtain something highly likely not to exist anymore - and on top of it, a receipt that had not been used, either. Who would just have preserved a useless store receipt like that for decades unless it actually had something of worth on it? It's all about how that improves the odds.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 1, 2016 at 7:23pm

You're right, Patricia, that the inscription looks similar to Elvis's handwriting, but for me it's not there. And I'll tell you, it's awfully strange to have that same open L that Ballroom and I haven't seen before on the same gas station receipt. It wouldn't be surprising for Elvis to sign for more than one person, but it would to have that same atypical characteristic on both.

It's also strange to have both on the market in the same time period (within years or less of each other).