[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

I should have said "appears to be 100% authentic" as you are correct, if it is a copy. I was referencing the signature appearance (whether its real or not) but of course if it is a copy that is a whole other can of worms. The paper appears to be old and the signature appears to be consistent with other examples so I am sure its real unless of course it a copy of a real one.


Rhys

Yes the paper appears old but I don't have to tell you how easy it is to get old paper (ask former dealer Bill Linehan how easy it is. He pleaded guilty after he was caught removing end papers from library books right inside the library). If you are not familiar with his story I found this on the internet.

"CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - An autograph dealer has pleaded guilty to ripping the front and back pages out of 300 Concord Library books. William Linehan, 57, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief Tuesday and agreed to pay a fine of $1,200 and restitution to the library. Linehan says he doesn't know why he did it. "I don't really know. It was just a stupid thing. I think it was the risk which was a kick," he said. "I've never done anything like this before." But police and prosecutors have a different theory. The pages Linehan ripped from the books were blank and authentically aged - perfect canvasses for forged autographs. "Linehan needed paper with a date from a particular era," Assistant City Prosecutor John Draghi argued in Concord District Court. Linehan, a dealer in historic autographs for the past 15 years, denied he used the stolen pages for forgeries. "I can see why they're saying it. All I can do is deny it," he said. He said he has sold 2,000 autographs in the past five years; only 15 were questioned, and he took them all back, no questions asked. However, the Universal Autograph Collectors Club removed him as regional director last summer and then expelled him after a customer made an ethics complaint against him. Bob Erickson, the club president, said Linehan promised another member an autograph of the late rock star Jim Morrison that had been displayed in a catalogue. But the customer complained the autograph he received did not match the one in the catalogue. Linehan did not respond to a letter from the ethics committee concerning its investigation, so he was expelled, Erickson said. "It is very important that when you are a member of this club that you abide by the ethics board's decisions," Erickson said. Linehan claims the customer simply didn't like the condition of the autograph. He also said he was expelled based on his failure to answer the ethics committee, not on the merits of the complaint. Still, Linehan said he will scale back his autograph business and look for another line of work. "Now with more and more people in (autograph collecting), it's getting harder and harder to make a living," he said. "It's much more of a hassle and harder to get material." "