Author
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Topic: [Bonhams] Space History (Dec 2018)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-18-2018 10:38 PM
Bonhams will hold a History of Science and Technology, Including Space History auction on Dec. 5, 2018 in New York City. The sale catalog is now online. |
Rick Mulheirn Member Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 11-20-2018 04:35 AM
Some "healthy" estimates on commonplace signed photos. |
denali414 Member Posts: 593 From: Raleigh, NC Registered: Aug 2017
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posted 11-20-2018 07:22 AM
Some real nice space models also, but some healthy estimates on them. |
spaceflori Member Posts: 1499 From: Germany Registered: May 2000
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posted 12-06-2018 05:33 AM
Gerhard Daum, Chris Methler and I were personally in their office this week inspected Lot 548 - Apollo 11 crew autographs and alerting them that it's a complete fake despite some crazy certification on the backside.We also recommended and specifically mentioned getting a second (rather fourth) opinion from Steve Zarelli. Yet, this was sold yesterday for a whopping $3125. I think this is fraud, knowingly. Any opinions? |
Rick Mulheirn Member Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-06-2018 07:08 AM
I would hope an auction house of such repute would offer a refund in the wake of an evident fraud: the fact the item was NOT pulled in the first instance is a matter for concern. |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 12-06-2018 08:02 AM
The problem is that presumably the buyer has not been informed of anything and will likely not find out they've bought garbage until years from now, when it's too late to do anything about it. |
SpaceAholic Member Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-06-2018 10:31 AM
quote: Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn: I would hope an auction house of such repute would offer a refund in the wake of an evident fraud: the fact the item was NOT pulled in the first instance is a matter for concern.
It's possible the prospective buyer believes he/or she is equally qualified to render judgement on whether the item is fraudulent or that the auction house has other independent analysts who reached a different conclusion. Is there anything beyond subjective evaluation of the signatures that provides definitive evidence the piece is a "fraud"? |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-06-2018 11:29 AM
The autograph style seen on Lot 548 appears to match the in-house signatures added to Apollo 11 autograph requests received at the JSC mail room. These were not secretarials — the Apollo 11 secretaries have said they did not sign for their respective astronauts — but did originate from within NASA. See the examples provided in Steve Zarelli's Armstrong autograph study. If that is the case, no one can blame the original recipient for believing the autographs were real, as they came from NASA. The signature style is also not as widely documented as autopens, so we should not expect that every auction house is familiar with them. |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 12-06-2018 02:03 PM
I would expect a major auction house to pay for the services of a reputable and qualified expert to authenticate material in their sales. In this case paying Steve Zarelli to authenticate the signed material would have been a worthwhile investment. |