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Author
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Topic: 140735006301: Warning: Schmitt 'Autopens'
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 04-04-2012 06:16 AM
   
Just a word of warning. Seller "leosofat" on eBay listed a couple of Harrison Schmitt 'Autopen' signed lithos (one WSS one business suit) yesterday.In my opinion these were not matches to known Autopen patterns so I bought both lithos in order to get a better look at them and to judge if they're previously unknown patterns or maybe hand signed. Now however I see that he has since listed two more identical examples of each signed litho which have been snapped up at the $25 buy-it-now price by other collectors presumably coming to the same conclusion as I did. Seeing this I have to conclude either that the seller is using the same listing images for items that actually have slightly different signatures on them (as would be the case with Autopens or hand signatures), or the signatures are actually preprinted on the lithos. I've contacted the seller to ask for clarification but in the meantime I would advise buyers to be wary. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 04-04-2012 01:06 PM
I'm waiting for some scans from the seller but at the moment it looks like a case of someone reusing a listing photo because the item looks the same to their eye when in fact they're subtly different. There's no intention to deceive but for collectors the result is you can't be sure exactly what you're getting. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 04-05-2012 01:00 AM
I received scans for the seller. These show that the signatures are actually subtly different on each litho so they're not preprints.In fact looking at the seller's past auctions they've sold quite a few of these lithos now. These included a couple of actual Autopens, which were the ones I'd seen listed previously because they hung around long enough for me to see the listings. I hadn't previously seen the other listings when they were on eBay since they were spotted by others first and snapped-up at the $25 buy-it-now price. In any case it's clear that the seller has (or had) a significant quantity of Schmitt hand-signed business suit and WSS lithos with a few AP signed examples in the mix. Schmitt's hand signatures are often so consistent that they have a very AP-like look but it is still possible to differentiate them. |
benfairfax
Member Posts: 199
From: NSW Australia
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 04-08-2012 06:10 AM
I have got a lot of things of this seller, and had a lot of communication. In my opinion she is not trying to deceive anyone. From what they told me they had a large inventory from a relative. I trust that the error in using the same item description and photo is an amateur mistake. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2914
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 04-09-2012 04:38 PM
Yes, indeed, the seller of the Schmitt portraits is certainly not trying to deceive anyone with these ebay offerings throughout the last few weeks. It was a pleasure for me in working with her as I was able to "buy now" about a dozen of the lithos that had authentic and not listed AP signatures. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 04-10-2012 01:50 AM
I made the original post because something seemed to be off with the quick listings in succession using identical photos and buy-it-now prices.As it turned out the seller was offering genuine items and just re-using the listing photos because to her the signatures looked identical. There was indeed no intent to deceive. |
benfairfax
Member Posts: 199
From: NSW Australia
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 04-17-2012 03:55 AM
Do you think this is real or Auto? Pretty good for $20 I think. |
idrvball
Member Posts: 150
From: Burke, VA USA
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 04-17-2012 08:07 AM
Nice buy Ben!!! |
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