Posted By:
gregor197larryhaven wrote:
"So in other words, they're trying to keep collectors from getting rare autographs after spending a huge amount of time researching where they might be able to find them for pennies on the dollar. Just another example of the system trying to keep an average joe from making a nice profit."
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Uh, no. These historical documents are the property of the St. Louis Circuit Court and are not for sale. They were placed in special storage to preserve them.
As the court clerk said in the article: "But we want to protect the documents from someone stealing them."
Unscrupulous dealers and collectors cutting signatures from or stealing historical documents is a serious problem.
See, for example:
http://www.poormojo.org/pmjadaily/archives/014712.php
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/state-library-archivist-accused-in-theft/70385/
http://www.probatecourtiannella.com/stolendocuments.htm
I'm not sure why you think these public officials are "idiots" for protecting historical documents that belong to the citizens of St. Louis.