Like I said, there has to be a reason. The removal of a key signature from the description and, apparently, from the lot is not something that any auction house would do on a whim.
Heritage's practice of showing "previews" of auction lots before the auction has gone live and/or before they have been reviewed by authenticators is something that has been discussed before as well, and I don't think has any bearing on the situation here. In fact, the last thread that I recall dealing with an H&S auction started with the OP complaining that they
didn't change his consigned lot/description to his satisfaction. It really sounds like a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario to me.
Bottom line, and something I need to be reminded of from time to time as well (especially after my "it sounds to me" analysis above), is that it's best to ask questions of the parties who actually know what is going on before speculating about it publicly and risk arriving at a conclusion that has no basis in reality.
That said, I'm now curious as to the reason for the change as well, so hopefully whoever finds out for sure will share now that the ol' worm can is already open
