Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Hardware & Flown Items
  Space artifacts certified by IPCFFSORC

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Space artifacts certified by IPCFFSORC
spaceman
Member

Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002

posted 06-10-2006 07:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceman   Click Here to Email spaceman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Does the "International Public Charitable Foundation For Support Of Russian Cosmonautics" exist, and if so do they have a website?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 06-10-2006 07:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is my understanding — and any information to the contrary would be greatly appreciated if shared — that the IPCFFSORC is not a formal or registered organization, but rather an invention by one or more Russian dealers for use on certificates of authenticity (COA) as a means of alluring Western society buyers.

At the least, the organization's name has appeared on COAs for items that have been, at the least, misidentified as mission-used or flown.

spaceman
Member

Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002

posted 06-11-2006 05:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceman   Click Here to Email spaceman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Robert. I had my suspicions that this may indeed be the case. I have only seen these COA's from one dealer. A web search for the organisation proved useless.

(I'm hoping that some items I have purchased are at least the real thing even if not flown.)

eurospace
Member

Posts: 2610
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 06-12-2006 01:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for eurospace   Click Here to Email eurospace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Could you name this dealer operating with this sort of COA?

cosmos-walter
Member

Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-15-2006 12:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for cosmos-walter   Click Here to Email cosmos-walter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Igor Rodin from Moscow was elected member of "Association of International Philatelic Experts" at the Washington 2006 stamp show. I am happy he joined us.

Igor found out that "The International Public Charitable Foundation For Support Of Russian Cosmonautics" exists. It is headed by cosmonaut Victor Gorbatko. However, this foundation never issues certificates on flown flags, etc.

I myself examined two flags which were sold as being flown with certificate of this foundation. Both definitively are fakes.

neo1022
Member

Posts: 281
From: Santa Monica, CA
Registered: Jun 2013

posted 02-05-2018 08:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for neo1022   Click Here to Email neo1022     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Over the past few days, I've become curious about the "International Public Charitable Foundation for the Support of Russian Cosmonautics" (IPCFFSORC), a Russian organization associated with the issuance of suspect COAs for Russian space artifacts (from 2002 to 2005 or so). These items still show up fairly frequently at auctions (RR, Regency-Superior, Heritage, Aurora) as well as eBay, so it seemed worth compiling what we know about this organization.

First off, most items that have sold with IPCFFSORC certifications are "too good to be true" — either amazing items, or way too cheap (or both). Some examples: Yuri Gagarin's Vostok Commander watch, inscribed to his brother (sold at Aurora Auction in 2003 for $1100); Tsiolkovski manuscript pages (sold for $2031.50 in 2012 by Heritage); documents signed by Gagarin, Titov or Nikolaev (sold for $250 in 2005 by Signature House); crew-signed "flown" flags, etc).

Each item is accompanied by a laser-printed "letterhead" COA consisting of a lengthy Russian description of the item and its supposed provenance, with "certification" by one of several "experts," who signs the document "Expert [Surname]." Each COA bears a blue circular stamp of the IPCFFSORC, and is often accompanied by an English translation. Tellingly, none of these "experts" can be identified via Google search, and none appear to have published anything related to space history or cosmonautics.

These COAs appear to have been produced expressly for the US market — I could find no examples of IPCFFSORC certified items listed anywhere on Russian sites. It looks like these Cyrillic COAs were produced expressly for sale outside of Russia, presumably to increase perceived "authenticity" of the associated items. At least some of the items with IPCFFSORC COAs have been identified as fakes or as materially misrepresented (flown items that are not actually flown, forged signatures, etc.). A search of cS will give you a few examples.

As it turns out, information on the IPCFFSORC is very hard to come by. Try to Google it and see what you find... not much. That said, a search of the database maintained by the Russian Federal Tax Service proved informative, revealing some interesting facts about this group and its founder. Some facts:

  • The IPCFFSORC was registered with the Russian Tax Office on Sept. 23, 2002 and was liquidated by court decision on June 12, 2006, which accords well with the dates that appear on the COAs.

  • The company did business under the following name: МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫЙ БЛАГОТВОРИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФОНД ПОДДЕРЖКИ РОССИЙСКОЙ КОСМОНАВТИКИ (International Public Charitable Foundation for the Support of Russian Cosmonautics)

  • The founder of the organization (name redacted) is identified variously as "Individual Entrepreneur," "Wholesaler," and "Financial Manager." He is listed as the "Head" of two companies, and the "founder" of nine — all of which were liquidated several years after founding. These multiple businesses were in unrelated fields, and were registered to same Russian address. All 10 business entities have been liquidated, most by court order during various bankruptcy proceedings. Most recently, in 2015, the founder was declared insolvent (bankrupt) in the Amur Region of Russia, and his assets liquidated in bankruptcy proceedings Feb. 17, 2016.

  • The Chairman of the IPCFFSORC is listed as (name redacted), who is also identified as the founder and head of another space-related company that was operating under the name РОБФ ПОДДЕРЖКИ КОСМОНАВТИКИ (ROBF Support for Cosmonautics - Regional Public Foundation for Cosmonautics Support). This organization was registered in Aug. 17, 2009 and closed by court order on March 31, 2016 ("Termination of Public Association Activity as a Legal Person Under the Decision of the Court on the Basis of ST. 29 of the Federal Law No. 82-FZ of 19.05.1995 "On Public Associations").

  • None of these organizations reported any capitalization, and had no branches or locations (save for the address used when registering with the tax office).
While none of this is definitive, it clearly establishes that the "foundation" was not a legitimate charitable entity, was founded by a serially bankrupt entrepreneur who was not a cosmonautics expert, and was liquidated by court order as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Moreover, the other participant — the titular "head" of the organization — was linked to a subsequent "cosmonautics support" organization that was also closed by court order for violating laws relating to charitable organizations.

Given these details, I would strongly recommend that any space item bearing an IPCFFSORC authentication be regarded as deeply suspect, likely issued with intent to deceive. Exercise due diligence when contemplating the purchase of such items.

neo1022
Member

Posts: 281
From: Santa Monica, CA
Registered: Jun 2013

posted 03-19-2018 06:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for neo1022   Click Here to Email neo1022     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looks like this group may be back again, issuing COAs under a new name: "International Space Collectors Club."

See this thread.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement