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Author
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Topic: Apollo 13 Kapton foil
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-12-2005 08:43 AM
   
Just a word of warning for people interested in this auction on eBay "Kapton" Gold Foil from Apollo 13: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13903&item=3952239345 The other week they were selling two of these items and using the same picture for both. I asked them if there were two identical certificates to the same person with the same foil and they replied that they'd made a copy of the original certificate and were selling that with some of the foil. I tried to clarify with them which item was the original (signed) certificate and what size the two pieces of foil were but got no reply, although at some stage one of the two auctions was ended early. Now they are listing this item again and it does actually state that this is a copy of the original certificate (so presumably the original was the one that sold the other week). It's still not clear to me whether the foil has been split in two or in fact was not originally part of the presentations. In any case I don't believe the seller was trying to be dishonest but from a collector's point of view a piece of foil stuck to a copy of a certificate is difficult to value at best. Plus if you bought the original it may be worrying to know there's at least one identical looking copy out there.  |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-12-2005 11:34 AM
Your summary is almost right. The "certificate" is actually a copy of one which was included with a presentation 1" square of Ap 13 seat fabric. I know - I have one of these, signed 1st hand by the 3 astronauts. This ingenious seller has copied the certificate and cut off the top half, with the bit that says "seat fabric from APOLLO 13"!The foil may well be genuine - who knows? - but the certificate adds NO validity to the item. I wouldn't touch it. Paul Bramley
[This message has been edited by gliderpilotuk (edited January 12, 2005).] |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-12-2005 11:54 AM
quote:
Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
The "certificate" is actually a copy of one which was included with a presentation 1" square of Ap 13 seat fabric.
The seller is also offering the complete presentation with the seat fabric intact. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-12-2005 12:52 PM
Looks like you're both right and the 'certificate' is actually a copy of the bottom of the couch fabric example they're selling.It is therefore unrelated to the kapton foil samples and neither of the two foil items came with an actual signed certificate. I guess it's maybe just naive but it's certainly deceptive - I'm sure those bidding on the kapton items assumed the certificate was related and at least on the first one they assumed they were getting genuine signatures at least. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 03-03-2005 06:50 AM
Having changed userid (from arelena777 to carrezma), this seller is back with even more pieces of 'flown' kapton foil from different missions all being offered in 1 day auctions. The presentations take various forms but most are based on copies of original award certificates or on real award certificates with extra text stuck to them. None of the certificates involved was ever used originally to present flown kapton foil fragments.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3962103566 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3962098853 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3959739086 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3960146063 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3961878391 Of course the kapton foil pieces may well be authentic (I'm not saying the seller is sitting at home cutting up bits of BacoFoil!) but using these copied certificates in the presentations doesn't really help prove their provenance. Why the seller has decided to sell lots of these pieces as one day only auctions I couldn't say. |
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