Some third party authentication companies will glance at your autographed memorbillia and instantly tell you it's not genuine, but not before charging you a huge fee to do so.
Make Sure You Do Not Fall Victim to Third Party Authentication Companies.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N1N37y4pg4uC_BuzuaDZGjr4OSkU9ZJa/view?usp=sharing
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon is now 95 years old. Autograph forgers have found now is the time to start thier sleezy work. Forgeries of Buzz Aldrin's signature are now becoming somewhat common. See two terrible forged signaures of Buzz Aldrin below.
To no surprise the first illustration is authenticated as genuine by JSA. This is one of a plethora of autographs certified as genuine that are worthless by those who call themselves autograph authenticators.
To an untrained eye, the second signature was authenticated by a seller of autographs who proudly advertises they are a member of the defunct UACC. The whole thing, including the three word sentiment is VERY poorly executed. It's amazing that someone would attach their name to this piece of garbage. The forger adding the three word sentiment thought this would make the item an easy sell. WRONG! There's something in this sentiment that is a dead give away as to it being a forgery. I'll tell you if you ask.
Illustrated below are two more worthless forgeries. If you get fooled, just look at these prices. Wait till you try to sell them at a later date. This is enough to get you to find another hobby!
The following are two examples of books genuinly signd by Buzz Aldrin.
Like anything else nothing is 100% perfect however for over 55 years I have been writing to choose an inscribed and signed book over one simply signed. Afterall, autograph collecting is all about handwriting and signatures. Don't turn down that book inscribed and signed by Lincoln just because it is inscribed to someone else.
BEST WAY TO AVOID PURCHASING A FORGED AUTOGRAPH, purchase the item from one of the 70+ professional autograph dealers and auction houses. PADAH (Preferred Autograph Dealers and Auction Houses) IS THE LARGEST AUTOGRAPH DEALER ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD. NOT ONE COMPLAINT AGAINST ONE IF ITS MEMBERS SINCE ITS INCEPTION.
This one story is about as bad as it can get. This is a perfect example why the hobby is in a decline. This is also another reason why this collector could be done with this hobby.
The following illustration is said to be a genuine signature of astronaut Scott Carpenter. The genius who thoroughly examined this autograph is a person (you'll never know who) called an "expert" at JSA. See illustration below.
Put a few drops in your eyes and see the back of this card. This authenticating company was proud to place their sticker on the item which usually decreases the value of an autographed item. In this case you can't destroy an item that is already mis-authenticated.
Below are four illustrations of genuine signatures of Scott Carpenter.
Most can understand why "PADAH" a group of over 70 professional autograph dealers and auction houses do not have to refund for any item that comes with a COA from a high profile company who claims to authenticate autographs.
Don't say you haven't been warned for years about the inability of the high profile authenticators who are unable to authenticate autographs accurately. One "expert" sold ladders at a hardware business. He thought he knew how to climb to the top of authenticating. Another was caught selling bogus autographs out of a shopping cart at the National Sports Card Convention in Chicago. He was removed from the show by law enforcement. Later in a court of law he was asked if he was the person that sold bad autographs at the event and his response was "I don't recall."
A Chief Executive Officer of a third high profile authenticating company admitted to me, in writing "In a twelve month period .....admitted they paid over $300,000 for errors." Of course the little guy is usually ignored and only the very active customer gets the attention.
A very recent email from a well known collector wrote the following. Amazing after all the warnings throughout the years, there are still a handfull caught up in the autograph authenticating racket. Read the following twice to ensure you fully understand the serverity of the text.
BREAKING NEWS: Sports memorabilia dealer admits scamming collectors in bizarre, $350M fraud and forgery scheme
A sports collectibles dealer claims he sold more than four million forged and fake memorabilia items, scamming the hobby for more than $350 million in illegal sales.
One of the largest sports collectibles forgery rings in the hobby has been busted in a bizarre fraud and forgery case that is still developing.
The Westfield (Ind.) Police Department raided two locations on Tuesday and Wednesday, loading semi-trucks with seized items. The department confirmed Wednesday night that it discovered a dead body at one of the locations. Police did not release the name of the individual, but confirmed that they died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Sports collectibles dealer Brett Lemieux published a post in the Facebook group Autographs 101 admitting to forging millions of athlete autographs and holograms over the past 20 years under the company name Mister Mancave.
“Mistermancave has sold over 4 million items. Yes million. Surpassed 350 million in sales,” Lemieux stated in his manifesto on Wednesday.
“Huge forger finally went down yesterday... insane details are floating out there today. One of the biggest on eBay. Insane stuff. Maybe one of the biggest forgery rings in the history of autographs.
“It's gonna blow away Operation Bullpen. It will make that look like small beans,”
On Wednesday night, the Westfield Police confirmed that it had executed a search warrant in the 16800 block of South Park Dr. regarding a counterfeit sports memorabilia scheme. According to police, it extended its search on Wednesday to the 300 block of Hoover Street, where it found an individual who was deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It did not release the name of the deceased individual.
Westfield is about 20 miles north of Indianapolis in Hamilton County. The 340 E. Hoover St. property is owned by Club Wag Investments LLC. According to Hamilton County property records, Brett Lemieux is listed as the registered agent for the company.
The City of Westfield provided no additional information and said the investigation is ongoing with assistance from the FBI.
Lemieux said Mister Mancave sold and produced items with fake holograms from some of the largest companies in the sports collectibles industry.
“It was an addiction,” Lemieux wrote. “How many items can I sell and give a front of a huge company. I did it for years. Purchased millions of dollars of legit items. Mixed it until [name withheld] found the hologram connect. Then I had the bank roll to buy even more. Do more signings. Every one item from a signing turned into 10,000. And it was certified. 95% of the [Patrick] Mahomes and Aaron [Judge] on the market are sold by me. Basically every autograph sold in the last 25 years you should have it looked at. It’s fake and someone sold it to you other than me. I wish I had the exact dollar number of money taken in from this and I’ll go to my grave never knowing. I kept this secret from everyone.”
Lemieux goes on to say that his family and friends had no idea what was going on. The business was run so well that even employees who worked for him didn’t have a clue that the items that they were selling were forgeries.
“The building was seized and I let it happen,” Lemieux wrote on Facebook. “The run is done. There’s over 500-700 MILLION dollars in value of holograms and cards in there. Let that sink in. Every company I’ve touched is now my b****. That was my goal. Once you came at me or spoke my name I went after you and your company directly. Intentionally.”
Lemieux said authorities raided the building housing the memorabilia in Westfield, a suburb of Indianapolis.
“It was a thrill having every athlete in every sport from every authentication company at your fingertips to produce the signature flawless, authenticate it with flawless bootleg holograms and then sell it for half of what a company does by the 1,000s,” Lemieux wrote. “That’s all I spent my time and my life on. What was the next item to do. Next name. Next flawless signature.
“I was addicted. It was a rush. I wanted out. But the money was too good. I can make [$]100,000 in a week if I wanted to. The fact that not one dealer that knew what we were doing to the industry, or when I took their exclusive, no one ever picked up a phone to confront me. That baffled me. I told multiple dealers I will ruin you and your exclusive. They knew better.”
“You will see a boom in bad autographs with good stickers hitting the market like a firestorm,” Lemieux wrote. “I sold over 2 million in just holograms to every avenue I could.”
Lemieux ended his Facebook rant by saying: “Enjoy the industry all.”
The "experts" can't!
The following example of 3 Eisenhower signatures are being offered by a well known seller of autographs. The seller obviously does not know a real from a secretarial signauture so depends on the knowledge of a company who claims to authenticate autographs. Chosen for their "expert" opinion was PSADNA.
Of the three examples illustrated above, only one is hand signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Can you tell which is the genuine signature? About the other two, many dozens of these secretarial signatures have flooded the hobby recently through a New England auction house that sells autographs. For a mere $12.00 plus $4 shipping both the auction house and the "experts" at PSA/DNA should no longer continue to make these mistakes. The book is 42 pages in length and is very heavily illustrated.
The information on how to tell a genuine signature of Eisenhower from a secretarial, has been around for several years. How far behind are the so called "experts" at auction houses and the "experts" at autograph authenticating companies in updating their reference material?
Some copies still available, can be obtained by logging onto www.stephenkoschal.com and scroll down to "Reference Books."
No autograph reference library should be without a copy.
In the meantime the person who has possession of the above example needs to return this item for a full refund. The original person who had paid for the authentication and slabbing should request a refund from the authenticating company.
The answer, which is the genuine signature of Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is the one in the middle.
Thanks Bill K. for alerting me of this crap.
I just checked the PSA website and it was very difficult to find where their autograph experts are listed. There may be a good reason for this.
Bill came across a Houdini signature slabbed by PSA that is as funny as not getting a refund based on something that was authenticated by a numbskull.
Here's the slabbed signature authenticated by (who knows who) and you'll never findout.
It may appear to some that Houdini was a greater magician than most believe. Can it be believed that Houdini was able to sign this page about 20 years after his death. One of the autograph "experts" at PSA believes so! PSA's website states the following are their experts.
Bill Corcoran, Kevin Keating, John Reznikoff and Tom Poon. (Who would like to take the credit)?
The not so funny part of this is this page was removed from an autograph album that was manufactured in 1945. According to the "experts" Houdini, the magician was able to sign this page 20 years after his death. So much for authenticators thoroughly examining an autograph. Another example of a collector wasting thier money on an authentication and adding the insult of having it slabbed.
The following article is from People Magazine
https://people.com/3-people-charged-selling-200k-worth-forged-jason-kelce-memorabilia-8779062
Just a month or so ago I reported that the Owner of Beckett plead guilty to a $2 billion dollar insurance scam. Then the CEO was arrested at Beckett although we don't yet know what he was charged with. Now it's reported a Beckett authentication so-called, self-appointed expert has yet to turn herself in for Forgery, Theft, and 58 other counts. Her name is LeeAnn Branco. She according to news reports authenticated over $200,000 worth of forged Jason Kelce autographs knowingly. Of course the forger, a Mr. Capone (not sure if he's related to Alphonse Capone or not) got Beckett authentication to issue fake certificates (their real ones for fake memorabilia) as a scheme to fraud customers. The above link shows the story but it will be published below as well.
Beckett authentication is no different than PSA and JSA in services of giving opinions on memorabilia, for a fairly steep fee giving collectors who don't know much, security that their material may be in fact genuine. The problem is these authenticators, whose names are rarely known or heard of in the hobby use their power to fail competitors material just based off who sold it. One authenticator went so far as to state; "If it came from a good guy it's genuine, if it came from a bad guy it's fake." Another time, this imposter self proclaimed authenticator stated that 5 items were fake. When he was informed it was a person he knew who sold them he stated; "Oh, he's a good guy, they are real now." Month's ago a JSA leading authenticator was caught on film stuffing $100,000 worth of memorabilia down his shirt and walking out of a memorabilia store on camera. His mug shot at the time was shared. Many wonder if Steve Grad is next in line at Beckett to be arrested.
The other problem of course is are you buying forgeries from fake "signed in the presence of" or just stickered memorabilia where the third party authenticator is in on the fraud!
About two years ago 1,000 Al Pacino signed autographs flooded the memorabilia market on eBay where a seller was asking $1,000 each. They had many things signed from Fedora's with feathers in them to photographs to all sorts of stuff. These items came with COA's from Beckett stating "Signed in the presence of." This was a $1,000,000 heist as Al Pacino's manager of 27 years was contacted where she stated the signing "Never happened." She stated Al Pacino would rather pay $2,000,000 to not sign autographs than getting a million for signing them. She reminded the caller that Pacino is worth over $400 million dollars, is near his mid-80's and would never do such a thing. When asked if Pacino would pursue this theft of his name she stated he doesn't care about petty things like this. What's interesting is whoever forged these items claiming Pacino signed them in the presence of Beckett that never happened) used six different exemplars to forge from during this signing. This fraud has not been investigated because Pacino seems to not care that thieves are stealing his name, forging his signature and Beckett authenticating them as "Signed in the presence of". Pacino's manager also stated she's been Al's scheduler for decades and this signing just never ever happened!
Al Pacino can't seem to get a fair shake when it comes to autographs. Everyone remembers PSA & JSA's so called expert John Reznikoff going into pawn stars authenticating an Albert Ruddy autograph as Al Pacino. That embarassing blunder can also be found all over the internet or here
https://www.looper.com/339413/what-happened-to-the-godfather-script-featured-on-pawn-stars/
One would think collectors would wake up and stop using services that are intentionally defrauding them at a high cost with forgeries. A year ago Beckett authentication was involved in another scam authenticating Ian McKellen forgeries supposedly signed in the presence of. Evidentially, the promoter of this theft hired a homeless man to dress up like Ian McKellen wearing a hat and dark glasses. Without even asking for proof of this scam, Steve Grad, the authenticator began authenticating all this crap until Ian McKellen stated;
Steven Koschal, an expert authenticator has been exposing these frauds for years. Once he stated; "Whose watching the watchers?" How true these words are today. The answer is nobody! But now fortunately after decades of complaints of fraud the authorities are arresting the scoundrels involved in these scams to prevent bad folks from profiting off celebrities and a guilable collecting base. Good companies can still be found alive and well within the autograph industry. To make sure your dealing with someone honest and credible first make sure they don't offer third party authentication stickers on their items for if they do, not only do you not know who passed it but neither does the seller outside of a company name and we all know companies don't authenticate autographs, people do! To find a list of honest and credible folks who still guarantee what they sell they should be a member of PADAH. Stephenkoschal.com has a list of these members on his website and on this website. Another honest dealer, Todd Mueller actually sued these firms. When submitting autographs, these firms always ask; "Where did you get it?" Name one of their friends and it will pass, name one of their enemies on their hit list for not supporting fraud and it fails. Tell them you got it from a firm known to use them and it will automatically pass. Mafia tactics for sure but if you want to play the game lie where it came from as they lie about their opinion. Now your on an even playing field for things sold by their enemies will always pass if they don't biasly know the source.
As more arrests come to light in the near future, and stickers become a sign of something fishy collectors will be pissed they were mislead by these folks, cheated, ripped off, stolen from, or buying outright forgeries with the authentication company involved. Other hobby blogs that turn the other way and don't write about these blatant criminal acts are involved or consider these criminals and their acts as friends. They also cannot be trusted. To find out hobby news turn here or just google it. These type of crimes affect everyone and make autograph collecting hazordous unless dealing with an honest dealer who doesn't support these firms who also guarantee everything they sell forever. Obviously it would be silly to allow a company whose authenticators are arrested and charged with 60 crimes to fail a competitors items and then have that honest dealer give a refund based off crooked companies promoting, forging, stealing and frauding the hobby. Unfortunately this was all predictible. This sticker authentication scam is a "Money grab" where anything can be authenticated by them for a fee or simply by resubmitting the items for eventually nothing will fail.
People magazine article below
Jason Kelce$200k Memorabilia Scam Uncovered... 3 Charged W/ Felonies
Published January 23, 2025 7:44 AM PST
Jason Kelce's signature is worth a pretty penny ... and officials say three people tried to capitalize, allegedly selling $200K worth of fake memorabilia, before they were busted!
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office (PA) announced Thursday that Robert Capone, LeeAnn Branco, and Joseph Parenti are facing 60 felony counts, ranging from theft to forgery, for their alleged roles in the scheme.
Capone, 51, Branco, 43, and Parenti, 39, are accused of lying about the authenticity and provenance of more than 1,100 items, including helmets, jerseys, photos and footballs, advertising the items on a website as real-deal signed Kelce merch.
Authorities say Branco, in June 2024, attended an autograph signing in Pennsylvania where Kelce was present, taking a photo with the Pro Bowl lineman "in order to validate her in-the-presence authentication of the forged memorabilia that was never actually signed by Kelce."
Ultimately, officials say the fake items were sold through two sports memorabilia businesses owned by Capone and Parenti, with Branco, an employee of Beckett Authentication Services, providing false verification.
After items were sold, authorities say a local police department was tipped off that something was wrong ... and they began investigating.
Jason Kelce On The FieldLaunch GalleryGetty
Capone was arraigned on Wednesday ... and released on $100k bail. He has a hearing scheduled in early February.
As for the other two, they have not yet turned themselves in (though that's expected soon) ... where they will then also be arraigned in a PA court.
3 People Charged with Selling $200,000 Worth of Forged Jason Kelce Memorabilia
Robert Capone, 51, of Philadelphia; LeeAnn Branco, 43, of Bristol, R.I.; and Joseph Parenti, 39, Cranston, R.I., were charged with multiple counts of forgery and theft related to selling the items
By
It all comes down to this. Don't trust someone who has proven they are not worthy of such. How many more arrests need to be made before the hobby wakes up???? Folks are now stating counterfeit stickers of Beckett are more realiable than genuine stickers from Beckett.
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When Steve Grad was the senior authenticator at PSA/DNA he was responsible for numerous authentications of bogus materials which were featured in our Worst 100 Authentications report in 2012. Since that report was published, Grad has moved on to become the senior authenticator at Beckett Authentication Services, however, his certification of fakes has continued.
Back in 2014 we also published a report detailing how Grad and PSA/DNA had certified numerous forgeries of the rare and valuable signature of the Baseball Hall of Famer Jesse Burkett on baseballs, B&W Hall of Fame plaques and other mediums. In the report entitled, Bit by the Crab, we highlighted Grad’s ineptitude and his fraudulent authentications of items which were known to be, in fact, bogus. This fraudulent activity has apparently followed Grad to Beckett as he has authenticated yet another Burkett forgery which, oddly enough, was also stolen from the collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The letter dated in 1935 is from Burkett to National League President Ford Frick thanking him for the gift of an MLB Lifetime Pass. The letter was originally part of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford Frick file which contains scores of similar letters thanking Frick for these passes. In 2012, HOS published an in-depth report regarding the thefts of dozens of these documents signed by Hall of Famers from the National Baseball Library. Oddly enough, the majority of the Frick letters that remain in the HOFs Library collection were penned by non-Hall of Famers which are far less valuable. The collection once had two thank you letters to Frick from Jesse Burkett and they both somehow ended up in the collection of the late collector Barry Halper. Halper was the owner of scores of items stolen from the Baseball Hall of Fame, New York Public Library and Boston Public Library which all appeared in the 1999 Sotheby’s sale of his collection. In the catalog for that sale is also the ultimate proof demonstrating that the letter currently being sold by Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions (authenticated by Steve Grad and Beckett) is not genuine and merely a secretarial signature of the baseball legend who hailed from Worcester, MA.
Lots 1069 and 1220 in the Halper sale were both sold as genuine Jesse Burkett signed letters. One was a handwritten authentic example and the second was the letter currently being sold by Goldin Auctions and authenticated by Steve Grad and Beckett as authentic. The contrast between the two Burkett signatures is striking and should have raised red flags for even an amateur authenticator. Burkett was known to utilize secretarial signatures throughout his career and it appears that the Goldin Auctions example is nothing more than a secretarial example of the baseball legends scrawl. Any alleged expert could have determined this simply by examining the 1999 Sotheby’s catalog. When we showed both Burkett letters to author Ron Keurajian he said of the Goldin letter, “It appears to be just a secratarial signature.” The Burkett letters in the Halper sale were authenticated by Mike Gutierrez (currently of Heritage Auctions) who is the prime suspect in the thefts of documents from the National Baseball Library in Cooperstown. The secretarial Burkett letter Gutierrez certified authentic was just one of scores of fakes and frauds sold at Sotheby’s by Halper and his auction consultant Rob Lifson.
Here is the authentic Burkett letter from the Halper sale:
Lot 1220 from the 1999 Sotheby's Halper Sale- an authentic signed letter by Jesse Burkett
Here is the secretarial signed letter in the current Goldin Auction:
Lot 1069 in the 1999 Sotheby's Halper Sale- a letter with a secreterial signature of Jesse Burkett
In our previous Burkett report we went into great detail illustrating the history of the flawed and fraudulent authentications of Burkett material by both Steve Grad and Jimmy Spence of JSA. For the purposes of this report in illustrating Grad’s current flub, it was only necessary for us to refer to Ron Keurajian’s book, Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs: A Reference Guide (McFarland 2012), which clearly identifies what a genuine Burkett signature would have looked like later in his life between 1917 and 1935. One of the exemplars utilized by Keurajian in the book is a 1917 employment contract between Burkett and the College of the Holy Cross. The signature on this document is clearly in the same hand as the Burkett letter sold as lot 1220 in the 1999 Halper sale and bears no resemblance to the signature featured on the letter authenticated by Grad and Beckett.
Here is the 1917 Burkett signature found in the Holy Cross Archives:
This is an authentic Jesse Burkett signature on his 1917 employment contract with Holy Cross. (Courtesy of the Archives of the College of the Holy Cross)
Beckett and Grad could have avoided this authentication error by purchasing a copy of Ron Keurajian’s book which provides iron clad exemplars of the Burkett signature. It is suspected, however, that with the evidence so overwhelming that the Goldin example is bogus, that Grad and Beckett may have fraudulently authenticated an item which they know is a fake in order to aid a friendly consignor and auction house in completing a sale. The authentication of this item also illustrates the problem of collusion between auctioneers and authenticators. Many of Goldin’s authenticators have also ignored iron-clad evidence of forgery in the past, one good example being the sales of a bogus letters of boxer Rocky Marciano. The Goldin auction also includes another Grad authenticated baseball that appears to be non-genuine- an alleged Lefty Grove signed ball. There is also what appears to be a forgery of a Cy Young signature on a ball with an LOA signed by Grad’s old boss at PSA/DNA, Joe Orlando.
Authentic Jesse Burkett letters are extremely rare and the majority of genuine examples are housed in the HOFs August Hermann Papers Collection. Several other secretarial examples of Burkett’s signature are found in the Herrmann Papers and some of those examples have also been stolen and made there way into the market via dealers like Mark Jordan who is also a consignment director at Heritage Auctions.
Ron Keurajian's book includes verified examples of Jesse Burkett's signature that expose Steve Grad's flawed and perhaps fraudulent authentication of the letter being sold by Ken Goldin.
When asked for further comment Keurajian directed us to passages regarding secretarial Burkett signatures in his book which states, “Burkett made liberal use of secretaries to sign his name. They look nothing like the illustrated specimens.” Keurajian confirmed that this is specifically the case with the example being sold at Goldin Auctions.
Top: Secreterial Burkett Signature Middle: Genuine Burkett signature on 1935 letter. Bottom: Genuine Burkett signature on 1917 contract.
Goldin Auctions did not respond to our inquiry for comment regarding Beckett’s authentication of the bogus Burkett signature.
Grad has long been a controversial figure in the hobby having claimed that his mentor was Bill Mastro the disgraced auctioneer who was recently released from prison after doing time for engaging massive auction fraud. As chronicled in our previous reports on Grad he is also infamous for fabricating his own resume and for lying under oath in hobby related court-ordered depositions. Beckett Authentication Services did not respond to our request for comment. The Beckett LOA accompanying the bogus Burkett letter also lists Brian Sobrero as a Beckett authenticator.
The stolen 1875 letter being sold as lot 11 at Goldin Auctions (left). The research notes of historians Dr. Harold Seymour and Dorothy Mills (right) proved the letter was once property of the NYPL.
STAY TUNED for another report regarding Lot 11 in the current Goldin sale which was stolen from the New York Public Library’s famed Spalding Collection. The letter was torn from one of the missing volumes of Harry Wright Scrapbooks and is documented as NYPL property by the original research notes written by Dr. Harold Seymour and Dorothy Mills when they held this same letter in their hands at the NYPL in the 1950s, before it was stolen. The 1875 letter has been featured on our “10 Most Wanted Missing Baseball Treasures List” since 2010.
UPDATE: A report published at TheAutographPlanet.com by Stephen Koschal chronicles some recent authentication blunders made by Steve Grad at a show in California.
The CEO of Beckett has plead guilty to fraud. It's too early to know what he did, how he did it or if Steve Grad who has frauded thousands out of fake authentication impersonating an authenticator is involved. We will keep you informed. It's our understanding that the man behind Beckett is currently in jail which really isn't shocking to anyone who knows how the authentication racket's work within the hobby.
Steve Grad is notorious for flunking autograph authentication. He went from selling forgeries to authenticating forgeries, failing genuine autographs and even authenticating the wrong people. One of the biggest TV shows ever was "The Honeymooners." Those who know autographs know the main cast of Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Joyce Randolph and Audrey Meadows. Here a collector either tricked Steve Grad or was also confused. In a frame instead of Jackie Gleason, the comic, superstar from The Honeymooners, superstar from The Jackie Gleason show, and star of Smokey and the Bandit was instead the tough bald guy, James Gleason. No resemblance, no work in any of Jackie Gleason's shows, bald with absolutely no resemblance. In fact he died nearly 30 years before Jackie Gleason. This is so stupid, only Grad could do this. Wrong person Steve! Yet his letter of authenticity reads in part; "Multiple Factors" meaning he used more than one factor to determine that James Gleason is instead Jackie Gleason. Even a first grader can tell the difference but for an insane fee Steve Grad can make this autograph whatever he wants it to be. How stupid is this? It's so common nobody should use the opinion of Steve Grad as any sort of good opinion when he's this BAD!
Good job Steve Grad! Way to get one closer then the last one you misidentified. Maybe next time we can have a Brady Bunch cast photo authenticated as Danny DeVito instead of Robert Reed. Nobody will notice!
Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication screws up again. He adds his signature to another worthless C.O.A.
in this case he signed his name on behalf of the Beckett Authentication "Experts." As always, one will never know who made the decision on the team that decided the autograph was not genuine. The reasons they claim were the deciding factor are the exact same reasons why a person would clim was wrong on a flat piece of paper or in a book.
However, this is about a signature of Jimmy Carter on a golf ball.
Matter of fact, this is an in person signature signed by Jimmy Carter in my presence.
SEE Grad's turn down letter below.
It is believed that the only reason this signature of Jimmy Carter was turned down is because it originated from a dealer on BECKETT'S BLACK LIST. We are aware of sellers of autographs that are placed on authentiicating companies black lists from a whistle blower who still works for one of the high profile authenticating companies.
I WOULD LIKE TO PERSONALLY THANK THIS INDIVIDUAL FOR THIER KIND WORDS AND ALSO FOR RECOMMENDING COLLECTORS TO ME.
I am also aware of other dealers, sellers of autographs and auction houses that are experiencing the same mafia type tactics. Many of them are household names in tha autograph industry. I am aware of at least two auction houses that I would call "threatened" by authenticating companies becaue the auction house refuses to have their items authenticated in advance of the auction catalog. THEY ARE TOLD IF YOU DON'T USE ABC TYPE AUTHENTICTING SERVICE, ANY ITEMS SUBMITTED FROM YOUR AUCTION WILL BE TURNED DOWN.
Proof of such, simply read the following email from a well known and established autograph auction house to Steve Grad of Beckett.
Another major autograph auction house in Florida experienced the same.
You cannnot imagine how many turndown COA's exist that unfortunate collectors paid for and now believe they are stuck with a bad autograph. How corrupt are these authenticating services?
For reasons of so many mis-authenticaed COA's one dealer placed ads in a high profile sports magazine. SEE BELOW-
The response to the above ad was phenominal. Collectors who though they had an autograph that was not authentic was able to sell their now unwanted items.
What has helped avoid the problem of mis-authenticated autographs is that 70 PLUS members of PADAH (Preferred Autograph Dealers and Aution Houses) do not have to refund for an autograph that was mis-authenticated by one of the high profile companies who "claim" to authenticate autographs. Some of these so-called authenticating companies can charge you $500 and upward to look at your autograph. Try finding out who at the authenticating company made the mistake. That's impossible. They can tell you they can't give you their name for the authenticators own protection. In a recent case, they claim the reference number for the authentication doesn't exist.
Having your items authenticated by high profile authenticating companies, do so at your own risk and peril.
You can avoid this insanity by purchasing from a legitimate professional autograph dealer and auction house. Always remember, a sales receipt, filled out properly is your only legal guarantee.
Just about any reference book on autographs will tell you that presidential land grants were hand signed by the president of the United States. This practice stopped after 1834 as there exists only a half dozen land grants which bear the personal signature of the President. There are very few exceptions shortly after 1834, but that is the general rule.
Recently on eBay, a Rutherford B. Hayes Land Grant is offered for sale and listed as rare. After President Jackson there have been twelve presidents up until the inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes.How sad it is that this Hayes Land Grant has been authenticated by BECKETT.
One of a plehora of reasons why anyone with an autograph "authenticated" by one of the three high profile so-callled authenticating copanies should get a second opinion. At a later date, so many failed items have been proven genuine and visa versa.
There is simply no excuse for this incompetence except for ignorance. Look at this atrocious mistake below and understand the lack of knowledge of many who authenticate autographs.
This was yet another year that Steve Grad would not accept an inviation to speak about authenticating in front of a group of collectors. Yet, this sophomoric example is just one more illustration why 70+ worldwide members of PADAH do not have to issue a refund based on a COA (guess) from Beckett.
Herman Darvick during the 1990's flooded the market with with knowingly or un-knowingly forged items signed by the popular artist Salvador Dali. Most items were high quality prints extracted from copies of books authored by Dali Many of these type items were sold at UACC shows in New York by a Connecticut seller of autographs..
Thirty years later these Dali prints are still being offered on a regular basis on ebay, and come with a COA from Herman Darvick.
I knew Salvador Dali quite well. For several years, I spent much time with him when he spent part of the year in his New York City apartment. We spent many times in this apartment having private signings and walking the streets of New York, especially Times Square where many of the stores that sold collectible imports would have claimed limited edition Dali lithographs. Actually they were imitation works of art painted by art students. Dali would bang on the windows with his cane screaming "this is not my work."
I got to know Dali's signature on his best and worst days. Many limited edition Dali prints ended up in auctions on most cruise vessels. I discovered that all the signatures of Dali on these prints were forgeries. Even after seeing so many of them on the dfferent ships, all signatures of Dali were almost identical, all signed by the same hand. After notifying the FBI amazingly these prints were removed from the auctions. No matter which cruise vessel company you were on, all of the Dali prints were signed by the same person. Not one was personally signed by the artist.
My last few trips on cruise lines, I could not find an example of Dali being offered on their auctions.
Just taking a peak on eBay this week I found two Dali forgeries each coming with a COA from Herman Darvick.
Herman Darvick of Rockville Center, New York is still claiming to be an autograph expert. After dozens of years of denying he forges autograhps, with much preesure from those who witnessed him doing so, he finally came clean an admitted in writing that he forged autographs. His specialty seems to be Presidents of the United States but for decades and unlimited amount of high end items signed by Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali have flooded the hobby, with Darvick COA's even today on eBay.
According to his COA's Darvick states: "He was President of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club." What he fails to tell you is that he was thrown out of the club by the UACC Ethics Committee for serious ethics violations.
On his COA's he has said "Herman Darvick PSA/DNA Authentication Services Expert."
On the same COA right under the above he continues: "This is not a PSA/DNA Letter of Authenticity." One can only wonder how many PSA/DNA COA's that bear his signature have the wrong conclusion.
This is the same Herman Darvick that at his auctions he sold several forged items signed by Shoeless Joe Jackson. JACKSON SIGNATURES ARE NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND BEING SOLD DURING THE LAST CENTURY. Experts in sports autographs all deemed the items not authentic. Many requests, in writing, for Darvick to contact the buyers were ignored.
One of Darvicks associates in Connecticut, were selling Marc Chagall prints by 100 signed items per order. They contained forged signatures of Marc Chagall and Darvick has been selling them since. Even today, on eBay you can find these prints with bogus signatures being sold by uneducated sellers of autographs that come with a Davick COA.
Below, see a few examples from this week....
The above information is just the very tip of the Herman Darvick escapades. The following should say it all. Herman Darvick who claims to authenticate autographs posts the following question ON THE INTERNET.
Darvick is the fellow who wants you to spend money with him so he can authenticate your autographs. HIS POSTING ABOVE IS MOST EMBARRASSING
It is obviously the very common signature of Sir John Glubb (1897-1986). A British General who formed , commanded and trained the Arab Legion under King Hussein.
Here's one for the books. Send in your item to PSA and pay their fee for an autograph authentication and get it back authenticated "as genuine." Little while later send it back to them with their authentication sticker attached. You are sending it in to have it encapsulated and it comes back rejected (not genuine).
Read from bottom up.....
HOW MUCH MONEY IN YOUR WALLET TO SPEND ON SO-CALLED AUTHENTICATION COMPANIES?
Shame on the PSA/DNA sports authenticators. Sports authenticators listed on the PSA/DNA website are Bill Corcoran and Kevin Keating.
How do they explain the following??? They can easily respond to this message near the bottom of this story.
If you are a collector who still believes in spending money for an "opinion" from one of those high profile companies who claim to authenticate autographs, this story should change your mind.
The following illustration is of a slabbed card bearing signatures of 9 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. All signatures authenticated as "Genuine" by the "experts" at PSA/DNA. Most of the signatures are not rare and there is an unlimited amount of exemplars all over the Internet where anyone can try their authenticating skills. It is my opinion that a true sports authenticator will not have to do much if any researce on all these nine signatures.
According to PSA/DNA's website, it should have cost the collector $710 for authentication fees and who knows how much was added for the encapsulation. The seller obviously embarrasses themselves by not knowing that all nine signature are pooorly forged. So much respect for 2,395 feedbacks.
THE SELLER IS ASKING $7,999.00 FOR THIS WORTHLESS SLABBED CARD OF AUTOGRAPHS.
LET'S SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES PSA/DNA TO RESPOND!
Over the years, MUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE TO THE REPUTATIONS OF BILL CORCORAN AND KEVIN KEATING. THIS EMBARRASSMEMT ALONE SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR THEM TO RESIGN FROM PSA/DNA.
Buying autographs on eBay could be a good thing for the professional dealer or seasoned collector. For EVERYONE else it's a mine field. We're going to illustate a football autograph on a 2023 fairly new card. We don't know if it'sgenuine or not so we go with our feelings. Or we can do something real dumb and pay for an authentiation fee from one of those companies who claim to authenticate autographs. That would be a very foolish move. Spending good money on what could probably be a bad guess, isn't smart.
Let's look at the description of this newly printed card.
#1- $29.49 If the seller thinks this is a good price, then why offer "a best offer"?
#2- Basically an unlimited amount was available. Sold 97 of these cards, better hurry only three left!
#3- Why no returns, does the seller know something that we don't?
#4- The seller possibly had a cost for the card, a cost for the autograph, and a cost for the plastic holder, a cost to put it on ebay, and a fee from PayPal when sold, and they accept your offer for $20 or less, how's money being made?
#5- NO RETURNS??????????? Smells somewhat, I think we'll pass.
#6- Use common sense and be educated before dealing on eBay for autographs. Many collectors and even some small time dealers got burnt many times, thay are gone, no longer collecting or buying autographs.
This is the final respose from the PSADNA representative regarding the badly forged signature of Mark Twain authenticated as genuine and encapsulated by PSADNA..
The autograph authenticators for PSADNA are as follows;
Tom Poon (?), Bill Corcoran(Sports), Kevin Keating (Sports), and John Reznikoff of University Archives. Reznikoff is the authenticator for Historical Autographs.
