Know a bargain when you see it and don’t get greedy

This beautiful Derek Jeter signed ball was listed on eBay for a $125 Buy-It-Now or a $40 opening bid. 

$125 is an outstanding price for a strong 90s-era Jeter signed ball. But, instead of hitting it at that price, the opening bidder placed a $40 bid… presumably in hopes of getting it for much less than $125. Once the opening bid was placed, the $125 Buy-It-Now went away.

Bad move. The auction closed at $215. 

Lesson learned: don’t get greedy. If you see an item at an excellent Buy-It-Now, hit it and don’t worry about trying to get a rock-bottom bargain. If it is a good item, chances are you will get burned as did the “bargain hunter” who though he’d get the Jeter ball for less than $125.

Don't buy others' problems

As collectors we are always looking for bargains. What's better than getting a great item at an even greater price? But the question to ask yourself, are you getting a "dented can" for that bargain price? Would it be better to pay a few bucks more for a problem free item?

The article below originally appeared on Numismaster.com. While it is about coins, it applies to any collectible.

Don’t Buy Others’ Problem Coins
by Patrick A. Heller, December 31, 2013

Every dealer has lots of them, as do a high percentage of collectors. I’m talking about coins that have problems. By that I refer to any feature that does not represent ordinary wear as a coin is manufactured, then placed into circulation.

There are so many kinds of problems that a coin might have that I’m sure this list only scratches the surface: cleaning, wiping, whizzing, artificial toning, fingerprints, corrosion, rim damage, tooling, repairs, altered surfaces, milk spots, orange spots, scratches, clipping, removed mounting, holes, solder residue, “green slime,” mottled or pickled surfaces, spooning, bent, chemical residue, environmental damage, and on and on.

Some of this damage occurs for innocent enough reasons, such as the storage of old collections in materials that unfortunately damaged coins over time. Some is done by uninformed people who think that cleaning or otherwise altering a coin may somehow make it worth more – and in the process invariably decreases the value. In the last category are the deliberate kinds of treatments to coins to deceive a buyer into thinking they are of greater value than they are.

Numismatic organizations have wrestled with attempts to define accidental and deliberate damage, with no descriptions meeting universal acceptance. At best, ethical coin dealers should identify problems with coins about which they are aware. Major grading services either do not grade coins with problems or encapsulate them with information about the problems.

Coins with problems are more difficult to sell because collectors generally seek problem-free coins. There are numismatic niches, such as Bust half dollars, where a high percentage of coins were cleaned long ago and many have retoned to a relatively natural appearance, but such coins are the exception rather than the rule.

If coin dealers are being offered problem coins, they almost always would not purchase them at the same price levels as for problem-free coins. In my decades in the business, I have seen problem coins trade at best for maybe two-thirds of the value of problem-free coins down to less than 5 percent of the price of the same grade of coin with no problems.

While it might seem to be a bargain opportunity to purchase coins “almost as nice” as problem-free coins but at a lot lower price, the downside is the illiquidity of problem coins. Problem-free coins will sell readily to almost all collectors, while demand for problem coins comes from a much smaller collector base. As a result, dealers tend to work with a wider buy/sell spread when trading problem coins. Sure, problem coins may seem like a bargain when you buy them, but you will get clobbered should you ever try to sell or trade them.

As a general rule, purchasing problem-free coins will return better results down the road than going for problem specimens. There are some series where a high percentage of surviving specimens have some kinds of problems, such as U.S. Colonial issues. If you are considering the purchase of problem coins, try to get information from someone other than the seller as to what the resale value might be.

If you go around coin shows, you are bound to come across some dealer cases where just about every coin has problems. There are markets for such material, but not all dealers of such specimens are totally forthcoming to potential customers about the condition of their inventory. It also happens that dealers occasionally make mistakes, where they don’t catch every problem on every coin they have in their inventory. If you are considering a purchase of a problem coin, make sure to do your homework first and ask for buy-back or return options. Happy hunting.


Patrick A. Heller was the American Numismatic Association 2012 Harry Forman Numismatic Dealer of the Year Award winner. He owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., and writes Liberty’s Outlook, a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects.

Beware of fake PSA slabbed items

Here is a good example of an eBay scammer. It's a sure bet someone would pay for this item, get a box of nothing and the seller would disappear.

If you look closely, you can see the "Babe Ruth signed card" is not actually inside the PSA slab, it has been placed on top of it. It appears the PSA label is also sitting on top of the plastic.

Click for full size image.

I have also seen this trick pulled with slabbed CGC comics. It's probably a safe bet it has been done with coins as well.

It's a jungle out there. As always, caveat emptor!

Scott Carpenter, 1925 - 2013

God speed, Scott Carpenter.

Historic Air Force One Guest Log

This Air Force One Guest Log recently closed at RR Auction for $6,543. A bargain in my opinion for a truly unique and historic item.

The leatherbound hardcover log book from Air Force One is signed on an inside page in black felt tip by the Apollo 11 crew and their wives upon their arrival in New York city for their ticker tape parade as they kicked off their around-the-world good will tour.

The book is also signed by 77 others, including Lyndon Johnson, Bill Anders, other politicians and dignitaries, and a 28-person contingent of family, friends, and NASA and White House staff of the Apollo 13 mission, who were flown by Nixon to Honolulu to be reunited with the crew.

All I can say is "Wow!"

A case of Mariano Rivera forgeries

Submitted for your viewing displeasure, a case of junky ghetto Mariano Rivera forgeries.

This mass-produced forgery style is well known and not very well done. However, they apparently fooled ACE Authenticator Justin Priddy who authenticated them for Live Sports Auctions.

Are authenticity holograms secure enough?

Here is a "Derek Jeter" signed hat on eBay with a Steiner hologram and generic Steiner card, which states "Derek Jeter Autograph."

At best, this signature is highly suspect. Additionally, it appears to be a cheap knock off hat -- note the oversized NY logo and it is probably an adjustable cap as well. Is it likely that Steiner is selling Derek Jeter signed items on unofficial merchandise?

So, this leads me to believe it is either a real Steiner hologram removed from another item or a counterfeit Steiner hologram. Either way, it does not bode well. As reported on Net54, it seems that bad items are appearing with otherwise credible holograms with more and more frequency.

If they are counterfeits, Steiner, MLB and the third party authenticators need to go after the sellers and find out where they are coming from.

If they are legit holograms removed from other items, these holograms are not secure enough and need to be redesigned so they tear apart if removed. I know from personal experience I had a Steiner hologram fall off of a game used ball with only a tiny fleck of the backing being damaged.

A lot of collectors only trust items from supervised signing such as Steiner, MLB, TriStar, etc. If the credibility of these holograms comes into question, these collectors will leave the hobby and that is bad for all of us.

Images from Spacefest V

Spacefest V was held over Memorial Day Weekend this year. For those who don't know, it is the event for the space enthusiast of any stripe - astronomy; manned exploration; robotic exploration; commercial space, space history, etc. One of the big draws of Spacefest are the astronaut autograph signings.

Thanks to Kim Poor of Novaspace and Mark and Tom Usciak for the photos.

Gemini IV and Apollo 9 astronaut Jim McDivitt

Gemini VII, Apollo 9 and Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott

Gemini XI and Apollo 12 astronaut Dick Gordon

Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham

Jim McDivitt
Who wouldn't love to have a cocktail with a real hero?

Spacefest VI hasn't been officially announced yet, however I'm really going to try to make it next year. You should too.

What to do with fake autographs

How responsible are the buyers of fakes and forgeries?

I found this interesting article in Coin World magazine. It's about someone (an art dealer) who purchased a fake painting and later sued. A New York court ruled that it was the buyer's responsibility because the buyer knew it could be fake, and did not exert due diligence -- that is, have it checked by experts -- prior to the purchase.

Of course, this scenario can be applied to all risky areas of collecting.

While I am not one to ever side with shady sellers, the article makes a strong case that there is responsibility on the part of the buyer to properly inspect an item before it is purchased.

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Accountability matters

By Armen R. Vartian
Article first published in May 20, 2013, Expert Advice section of Coin World

I recently received an email from a Coin World reader asking what remedies a coin buyer would have if he purchased “raw” (uncertified by a third-party grading service) coins from a dealer as Mint State 60 or Mint State 63, and then the coins were returned “no graded” (were rejected for encapsulation) upon submission to a major grading service.

Answering his question got me thinking about the impact of grading services in the industry generally, and also about a legal doctrine applied to sales of art and set forth in a recent federal court decision in New York.

Facts simple
The facts of the New York case were simple.

A collector wanted to sell a painting by Milton Avery, and sent the painting to a warehouse in New York City where, as the court noted, “any prospective buyer ... could inspect it.” A firm ended up buying the painting for $200,000, after the firm’s president inspected it at the warehouse.

Shortly thereafter, this firm, a dealer, submitted the painting to the Avery Foundation, which declared it a fake. The collector refused to make a refund. The court sided with the collector.

Siding with the collector
First, it declared that although both parties may have been mistaken as to the painting’s authenticity, the dealer was negligent in not having the Avery Foundation examine the painting before the purchase transaction, rather than afterward.

The court also noted that even if the seller knew the painting was a fake, the dealer had every opportunity to have the painting inspected by the foundation, and therefore couldn’t reasonably have relied upon any statements the seller made about authenticity.

The federal court emphasized that the foundation had sent the seller a letter stating that its representatives were willing to travel to the warehouse for an inspection, and that the dealer should have done more than merely have its president look at the painting himself.

Inspect before buying
Citing other cases involving failure to properly inspect real estate to discover defects, the court concluded, “The very fact that [the dealer] felt the need to seek authentication by the Avery Foundation after the purchase indicates that it knew how to do so prior to the purchase.”

It’s not clear how my reader’s situation is affected by this. In the stamp collecting field, it is normal for buyers to require expertization before concluding a purchase.

I say “concluding” because sometimes the stamps are submitted before money changes hands, and other times the transaction is completed subject to the buyer having the right to rescind if the stamps are found to be inauthentic.

No such practice exists for coins, in part because so many coins are already certified. Nevertheless, raw coins still are bought and sold with some frequency.

Consider certification
Would it be fair for a court to chide a buyer of fake or overgraded coins for not having had the coins submitted to the grading service before he purchased them?

Many, if not most, sellers would balk at such a requirement, and simple sell to someone else. And the buyer in the New York case was a dealer, who presumably knew the risks.

Shouldn’t collectors also be held responsible for knowing the risks of buying uncertified coins?

Shouldn’t collectors also be responsible for knowing that, for coins of coins of substantial value, if they aren’t certified, it might be because they aren’t genuine or are overgraded?

Armen R. Vartian is an attorney and author of A Legal Guide to Buying and Selling Art and Collectibles.

Collectibles and Law column | Coin World

Apollo 8: First to the Moon

Apollo 11 tends to get most of the limelight, but many forget that Apollo 8 was the first mission to the Moon. While Apollo 8 did not land on the Moon, they were the first to leave Earth and orbit the Moon in December 1968.

It was a daring mission led by the incomparable Frank Borman. Jim Lovell, the future commander of the Apollo 13 mission, and Bill Anders rounded out the crew.

The crew of the historic Apollo 8
Bill Anders, James Lovell and Frank Borman

On Christmas Eve 1968 during a live television transmission heard by an estimated 2 billion people, each crew member read a section from the Book of Genesis (verses 1-10). Borman finished the broadcast by wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone on Earth with, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

(As an aside, it's almost unimaginable that religious content like this would be permitted on a broadcast today. If it was, they would have to include a message from every conceivable religion (and atheists) as to be as "inclusive" as possible. Some would call this "progress" I assume.)

The signed limited print above was issued by the San Diego Air and Space Museum in 2008 -- the 40th anniversary of the mission. As space collectors know, Bill Anders is an exceedingly difficult signer, making an Apollo 8 crew signed item one of the least common and most desirable Apollo crews.

Story of the Ted Williams “Thumper” postcards

The Ted William’s “Thumper” postcards often appear for sale. The signatures are generally authentic; however, it is possible that unsigned versions of the card exist where a forgery could be added.

So, where did these Thumper postcards come from?

Reportedly, Ted Williams had a business interest in an orange grove. When someone ordered a certain quantity of oranges, they received a free signed postcard. A larger 5.5 x 8.5 print also exists, and presumably these were sent with larger orders.

Whitey Ford Thumper Postcard

Interestingly, there are also Thumper signed postcards for others players as well including Brooks Robinson, Whitey Ford, Stan Musial and others. The quality of the artwork varies greatly. It is unclear if these were also "orange grove" giveaways." The Williams postcard bears a nice likeness, while some others -- notably the Ford -- are somewhat dis-proportioned and cartoonish.

Ted Williams Thumper Postcard envelope