Posted By:
davidcycleSome questions include:
If you think a card is worth $100,000 and above, why would you sell a 50 percent stake for $50,000?
If you know enough about the card to know it's value, how many exist etc, why would you sell it at obscure Michigan auction unauthenticated?
The co-owner supposedly is a dealer. I understand there are newbies, but any card dealer who thought the card was genuine would know enough to get to submit it to Mastro, REA or the like and not a local flea market auction. Of course offering $10,000 for authentication when PSA charges like $100 makes loads of sense, in particular from a card dealer who can tell you how many Wagners were made. I assume the $10,000 is if you say it's authentic-- if you say it's a reprint, you get nothing.
The bit about dealers brushing him and his genuine Wagner off is indeed humorous.
Actually, I think the quote about how they aren't going to have the card authenticated in time for the auction is funny. With a million dollar piece of memorabilia, I think you can delay the auction or save it for the next auction cycle. If Natalie Portman is coming to dinner, you put the lasagna back in the oven if she calls to say she will fifteen minutes late. You don't say, "Tough luck chick. Dinner starts a 6 sharp."
If you need to get an item authenticated (which means you don't know how to determine if it's authentic) and the item has not been authenticated (which means you don't know if it's authentic), how can you auction it? For a licensed auction house and a $1 million item, is this legal? And, of course, for a reputable licensed auction house, why would they even offer a $1 million item that they don't know is authentic and hasn't been authenticated by outside source? Beyond preservation of one's reputation, it would be financial suicide to be taking $1 million dollar items on consignment where you don't know if they are genuine.