OT: Contacting original collector
 

I recently bought a 1950s Mantle photo and on the back was a stamp of the collector. I bought it via Goldin Auction a few weeks ago which is not that far from their location. Part of the appeal to me was the stamp was someone localish to me.

For fun, I googled the name and it appears he is 89 and I think I found his phone number. Is it totally creepy to call him and let him know another local collector owns one of his items and appreciates it?

I guess it is possible he could be ill or recently passed and that could open up a wound of a loved one.

I'd call. Even if you get a family member and he is deceased, when you explain the circumstances I'd think they'd likely get a real kick out of it. If collecting brought grandpa joy you might be on the phone for an hour hearing stories. I'd do it. If someone did something like involving my father I'd love it.

In agreement with Steve, I think he would 90% likely get a kick out of it. If not, what is there to lose?

Possible response
 

Hey I just got a photo with your stamp on the back…. “Yes, I consigned it to Goldin last month, thanks for bidding on it!”

Or he says, "My cards were stolen last year and I turned in a police report, but they never found anything. What did you say your name is? It will be great to get that card back!" :eek::D

No Doubt
 

... You must be fun at parties , Debbie.

..

Completely +1 agree.

My dad spent WW2 in the Army, wounded (Purple Heart) in the Battle of the Bulge. Stateside, before shipping out for Europe, my dad was good friends with another guy in the unit. Lots of photos together. Once, after I was old enough to know what was what, I asked, "What happened to him, Dad?" "His troop ship was torpedoed, and he didn't make it" Well, in 2007, before I retired from the Navy, I looked up McVicker in Barton, Maryland. Sure enough, there was one. I called, and it was his niece. She was in her 80s, and remembered her Uncle Les. She was in tears. I made professional duplicates of my dad's photos and sent them to her. I still occasionally get email from her daughter.

A bit of a late response but I agree with this.
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A bit of a late response but I agree with this.
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"Yeah, I was the consigner. Boy you overpaid, douche. Amazed you'd admit to it."

Contacting previous owner
 

In my opinion kind of depends what you paid for his card,--if it comes up and they ask what you paid for his card, they might not want to know, unless they were the consigners--I would give it some thought before I called.

The hell with the call. Knock on their door and ask them how the hell they're doing (j/k). Seriously, maybe write a letter to them first. Best of luck !!!

I posted about this back in 2019, but I did this with a photo and returned it to a very appreciate family. Obv you are not planning to send the card back, but it might be a fun reunion.

Here is my story:

I picked up a few photos from Dennis (photomoto) and he tossed the following snapshot into the deal for free.

I saw the writing on the back and decided to go hunting. Lancelotti, Curacao, and the army were where I found some traction, as I found some info in an army database and that led me to this online memorial:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...iel-lancelotti

A bit of time going through Facebook, Google, and online White Pages in the area led me to the Facebook profiles of who I believed to be Daniel's son and grandson. The former never replied, but after a few messages the latter did. It turns out that he showed the photo to his grandmother, Daniel's wife, and she was thrilled to see this never-before-seen photo of her late husband. I immediately dropped the photo in the mail - it is now back where it belongs.

And I got a very nice hand-written note from her about how much it meant. I assume the photo belonged to one of the other guys in it and she never knew it existed.

Nice nice story. If that was someone I was close to, an unknown picture from decades ago would knock me off my seat.