Kenny, if this was only about Leon's 10k he could get that back from Mastro. I would be surprised with an upcoming sentence Bill wouldn't like to add this as a feather in his cap by refunding a client and returning an long lost item to the NYPL. This is more about wrestling with the lost profit not his original purchase price.
I agree with you easy to be an armchair quarterback when it isn't your cash. I had a recent scare about a photo I bought (9k) from Legendary. I did everything in my power to research and correct the potential issue with the proper people the very moment I was made aware. In the end it tuned out to be a false alarm. With that said I did everything and even a bit more than what I've been critical of Leon for not doing.
My situation was also an out of the blue thing I caught on my own from a thread here. Not me being made aware of an issue by the Feds and a year later putting the photo up for auction with a description that conveniently covered the very issue I was made aware of a year earlier. Only to come in here to you guys and say golly gee I would have never listed it had I known that....let me look into this.
Leon having a stolen item is not his fault, that sucks! The way he's handled it and the steps he's taken or didn't take are what concerns me. One can't talk about doing more than 99.9% of the hobby when it comes to fraud and making the hobby a better place, then sort of turn a lazy eye to trouble in ones own camp.
With all of his hobby knowledge and the people he has access to here. The information he was given and is talking about on video in regards to this being from the NYPL. I find it hard to believe a year later and he wasn't able to detect or have somebody help detect this stamp and this is all news to him. Heritage didn't mention Library stamp by accident or as the course of a routine write up.
Cheers,
John
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