Quote:
Originally Posted by tschock
Adam,
If this is the case, and I am in agreement here with you, then isn't an LOA for said AH actually meaningless? The assumption being that the AH would not be acting on good faith by putting up something for auction that it did not believe to be authentic. So if I win something from the AH, shouldn't my receipt itself from that AH for the purchase of that item be just as good as one of their LOAs? (theoretically speaking)
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Yes. A receipt and copy of the auction catalog description is both provenance and documentation of the auction house's description/opinion of the item. Obviously, people will judge the value of the provenance/identification judgment based on their opinion of the auction house. An auction house's LOA repeating what they said in the auction catalog is just an extra piece of paper . . . An exception is some auction houses hire outside people to give opinions on certain items, which is why in those cases they include that extra JSA/Heritage or Sotheby's/PSA DNA LOA.
I regularly recommend collectors keep the receipt and copy of the catalog description for various reasons, including that, when the auction house is well known and respected, the documentation will aid you at resale time. As you correctly say, it's serves as the practical equivalent of an LOA.