Always Buy Authontic Autographs and Celebrity Memorabilia From Certified Dealers
I have just recently started reading a book about autograph forgery in the United States, the title of the real life account of a F.B.I. investigation is called "Operation Bullpen". Although I am not finished the book I could not help but get on my keyboard and make people who have not read the book aware of the amount of forged memorabilia that was confiscated and also sold from this illegal activity.
It was not just the forgers who profited from the sale of autographed memorabilia but several large autograph dealers who either unknowingly purchased these items or worse still knowingly purchased fake famous signatures.Amongst the most popular autographs to get forged were baseball autographs, basketball autographs and NFL autographs. The forgers did not stop there after initial success with the aforementioned items they progressed on to Hollywood memorabilia, historical autographs, sport autographs and movie starautographs. The extent of how much of the items forged that is still in circulation or hanging in someone's home is debateable but it amounts to millions of dollars.
The subject of fake memorabilia is one which I must confess makes me very angry and every time I hear of it I feel the need to write about it. I hate when I see a fake autograph at a memorabilia show or fundraising dinner. I feel that it is often a crime which goes unpunished most of the time in the U.K. Although there have been several convictions for fraud in the U.K. concerning fake signed memorabilia and autographs to date there have been only light sentences and fines imposed. Some of the these forgers of football memorabilia and football autographs have been making hundreds of thousands of pounds on a regular basis off a poor unsuspecting public.
The forgery is not limited to autographed football memorabilia, there have been cases of music memorabilia, vintage autographs, rare autographs, golf memorabilia, formula one memorabilia that have landed in court.
Today it is not enough to have a certificate of authenticity, anyone can put one of them together and attach it to a forged signature. I t makes sense to research your autograph dealer and ask how he gets his items it is also prudent to deal with autograph dealers who are AFTAL dealers and also UACC registered dealers, at least you can complain to the aforementioned organisations and they will investigate your complaint. Most autograph dealers will send a certificate of authenticity with their items but it is only of value when it has the dealers address, e mail, telephone numbers and affiliations to autograph organisations, if the certificate does not have this then it is worthless ( how are you going to contact them to complain!!).
I have been collecting autographs for over forty years and I must inform the prospective autograph collector to be very careful of who they buy autographs and celebrity memorabilia from as there are vast amounts of fake autograph dealers and those only too quick to take your hard earned money fraudulently.
About the Author
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Frequently Asked Questions...
Where can I find out how much my music memorabilia is worth?
Would very much like to sell my stuff, but don't want to go too low (or high!). Anyone know where i can find out how i can find out the value. (Items are not all CD's etc, ranges from Framed Prints, Mirrors, Figures all from music celebrities) Thanks!
Answer:
You need to ask a dealer.
BUT tell them you need an insurance valuation for the whole collection and then ask them if they could break it down into how much the individual pieces are worth. Because if you go to a dealer and ask them how much they would give you for your collection they will give you a much lower price as they need to make a profit when they sell it on. No one will be able to offer you the same knowledge on the subject as a dealer can. But the value and the buying/selling price are not the same thing where dealers are concerned, hence asking for an insurance quote - where they need to be basically honest.
Alos, whatever price they tell you check it in Record Collector magazine (but remember that the prices in that don't take differing conditions into account, nor do they allow for regional differences in demand).
