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Chapter VI: Correcting the problems with COA’s and 3rd Party
Autograph Authenticating Companies
This could be a very easy problem to correct if everyone who
has the best interests of the autograph hobby gets on the same
page. If you don’t use and support them, they will go away!
Most of these authenticating companies are a cancer spreading
out of control though out the autograph hobby. This growth can
easily be removed if collectors boycott the business of those
who support these authenticating companies. Educated collectors
need to have their voices heard. If there is a show in your area
and the show promoter is renting a booth to a 3rd party authenticating
company, let the show promoter know this is the reason why you
will not be attending the show. In almost all cases the show
promoter is well aware that the authenticating company is mis
diagnosing autographs and allowing forged, secretarial, rubber
stamped, machine signed and preprinted signatures passed as genuine
to enter the hobby. The show promoter does not have the best
interests of the hobby in mind. It is all about greed and renting
another booth.
If a card shop or autograph gallery is using a 3rd party authenticating
company you can bet they are also aware of the dangers addressed
above. Let that shop owner know that you will not be purchasing
anything from their store unless they stop using the authenticating
company as a scape goat and start guaranteeing everything they
sell on their bill of sale.
Some sellers of autographs have allowed their names to be used
by third party authenticators. These sellers are well aware the
authenticating companies are incompetent. Some sellers have told
us they allow to have their name used because they are getting
exposure and publicity. Another has told us they joined an authenticating
company to help make it run better. To me that’s like the
reason you joined the KKK it to improve the way it is run. These
people also need to be boycotted. Don’t purchase from their
individual web sites, catalogs or magazine advertisements. Once
again, in my opinion, their reason for teaming up with these
companies is based on greed.
There are a handful of magazines who still take ads from 3rd
party authenticators. Each and every editor of the magazine is
well aware of how much damage these third party authenticators
have done to this hobby. So it only appears that they are taking
the ad based on greed and not what’s best for the hobby.
You wouldn’t see them taking an ad from a known forger,
yet they have no problem taking an ad from a company who is saturating
the hobby with COA’s that guarantee fake items are genuine
and genuine items are not. Personally I am in the process of
cancelling my subscriptions and advertisement with all magazines
that take an ad from a third party authenticating company. If
all of you follow this policy we will get this hobby back to
some sanity.
Chapter VII: Purchasing at Auction (Contiuned)
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