[prewarsports]

With so much discussion about fake Charles Conlon stamps lately and the recent frauds in the photo industry, we felt it important to get the facts straight and help educate the general public about what is going on and how to protect yourselves and help preserve the integrity of this great hobby. I spoke to some advanced collectors and had several lengthy conversations with Ben Weingarten to make sure we all had the facts straight and were on the same page and here are the conclusions that have been reached after compiling all the information available so on behalf of myself and Ben, I am publishing here on the forum a brief synopsis of what has happened in the past, what you can do now to protect yourself, and what needs to happen in the future.

Fraud and History: The photo industry (with particular regard to press photography) is an incredibly safe way to collect items of historic significance when an educated buyer is purchasing from a trustworthy and educated seller. No other area of collecting provides so much authentication inherent in the items. Date stamps, handwriting, file marks, publishers stamps, photographic paper, style of photography etc. all lend a helping hand in determining what a photo is, who made it, who is pictured in it, and when it was made. With so many options for authentication, there are also multiple ways in which a person could potentially deceive. An industry still in its relative infancy allowed for individuals to take advantage of the small amounts of information available to the public to be used against them. With the increased money that fine pieces of vintage sports photography were generating, came the increased opportunity for fraud. If a photograph of a player was worth $50 but a Charles Conlon photograph of the same player brings $500, a small bit of handwriting, a stamp, or a sticker was all that stood in the way for huge profits. Such was the birth of the modern fraud in the photographic hobby.

Fake Conlon Stamps/Handwriting: Within the last 5-6 years it was discovered that fake Charles Conlon stamps and handwriting were beginning to appear on vintage (and non-vintage) photographs. We now know that this fraud was being perpetrated predominantly by one individual or group of individuals (we will just call whoever was doing it "the perpetrators" from here on out) who had a fake Conlon stamp made (the Blue stamp seen below). There is an almost identical reddish brown stamp that exists which is completely authentic and should never be confused with the blue one, and this was the pattern for the fake stamp (also seen below). Why would this brazen perpetrator make the stamp blue instead of red like the original? It is speculated that in trying to copy the original that it would be easier to discover that there were subtle differences. By creating a slightly different stamp and having it in a different color, it could be presented as a new style and any differences stylistically could be discounted because it was a different version. Aside from the stamp, the perpetrators also tried (pretty poorly) to fake Charles Conlon's handwriting on the back of photographs as well. Again, they did a poor job and often times left out key details (like the team notation) and usually paid little attention to the style of Conlon's signature which although sloppy, was very consistent throughout his life.

Baseball Magazine 1996 Stickers: The question that has been asked often regarding the source of the fake Conlon handwriting and stamps is how many ended up on photos from the 1996 Christies Baseball Magazine Sale with the hologram on the back as that sale happened nearly 20 years ago. The answer? It is believed that he perpetrators also had fake baseball Magazine Stickers made to accompany their fake stamps and handwriting! So, we are looking at a situation where the perpetrator went to great lengths to fool the public. Again though, they were either extremely brazen or sloppy (or both) as the stickers they had made have issues that can be easily spotted with a ruler and a trained eye.

Other potential Issues: The same perpetrators reportedly also had other fake stamps made similar to the Conlon. While it is unknown at this time if these were ever used, we have heard that other stamps from Paul Thompson, and some of the News Services were also made at the same time (or approximately the same time) as the Conlon stamp. If issues regarding these other stamps comes to light, we will try and keep the public educated as to their appearance and availability. It is our belief that these were made but were either too poor to pass off or the opportunity never presented itself to actually put these into circulation (thank God) as at this time only the Conlon is known to have been in circulation extensively. Lets hope that remains the case!

How to Protect Yourself: It is important that individuals are aware of the fact that the Blue Conlon stamp is bad. Often this was placed on legitimate vintage photographs, maybe even original Conlon Photographs to add provenance, but that does not always mean the photo is bad. It means be very careful. On Conlon photos with nothing but handwriting on the back, compare it to known authentic Conlons (there are thousands with both the handwriting and authentic stamps for comparison). Be VERY careful of anything being touted as a "restrike from Conlons Studios" with nothing to go off of but handwriting, especially where his negatives still exist! With regard to the Baseball Magazine Hologram, break out your ruler! The original stamp is EXACTLY 1 inch across and the fake is a bit larger (and not as clear). This is the easiest of all of the frauds to detect. If any issues arise submit them to PSA (Henry and Marshall are very educated on this issue) or David Cycleback for a paid analysis, or e mail me through RMY Auctions and I will take a quick look. You can also drop a line to Ben or other educated Collectors and Dealers, or post them on the forum for analysis (like on the autograph section of the forum) to get a larger audience. We are ALL trying to build this hobby up the right way and are all on the same page regarding cleaning this issue up and making sure things like this do not happen again!

Conclusion: The photo industry is a wonderful emerging market that provides the excitement of baseball cards and autographs with the opportunity to see something new every single day. With the maturation of the industry will come bumps, but it is important to remember that fraud exists in any industry where money flows. In the vintage photo industry, there are more safeguards than any other area of Sports Collectibles. Do your homework, take advantage of those who have extensive knowledge, and buy from reputable sources. Over time it is VERY easy to become an expert yourself and hopefully with the efforts of this community we can clean up this hobby of the recent fraud that has taken place and prevent anything like it from happening again. The sharing of knowledge for the betterment of all is what it is all about. I was happy to be able to come together with Ben and help make this issue a bit more clear about what is going on and how we can all protect ourselves.

Rhys Yeakley
&
Ben Weingarten