Open letter to STAT and Christopher Morales

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Posted By: <b>Bill Panagopulos</b><p>DD:<br /><br />Well spoken! But we are doing nothing more than stating the obvious. BTW the link you posted was disabled within a matter of moments was taken down. Any surprise?<br /><br />The conflict of interest issue is old new: Authenticators consigning to auctions who employ their services as authenticators, with the crooked ones very likely passing their crap over the legitimate autographs consigned. <br /><br />What an (unsurprising) shock that Mr. Morales and his associates have suddenly revised their resumes. Coincidence? Great timing, anyway.<br /><br />That being said here we go again:<br /><br />THIRD REQUEST:<br /><br />Mr. Morales: Your website states, verbatim:<br /><br />QUOTE<br /><br />"An Open Challenge<br /><br />As noted herein, I will meet anyone in a public forum to review and assess my work efforts. Since private communications are often cherry picked to bolster a point of view, at times misdirecting the facts, it is my position that any meetings and communications be conduct in the open. If anyone desires to contact me concerning an open forum, please do not hesitate to call, email or otherwise contact me at anytime".<br /><br />UNQUOTE<br /><br /><br />Mr. Morales, I hereby challenge you to appear, before a group of your peers in the autograph authentication trade and the international press, to:<br /><br />a.) Discuss your "forensic" methods of authentication, and your education and qualifications, using exemplars or otherwise;<br /><br />b.) Describe in detail other criteria you used to authenticate the thousands of various autographs for which you have issued certificates;<br /><br />c.) explain your relationships, if any, with the various consignors, auction houses, galleries, etc. for whom you authenticate, and;<br /><br />d.) assess your work efforts, ie: how have your authentications been received in the autograph market, as a whole.<br /><br />If you wish to limit the discussion to your "work efforts" alone, I would expect your peers would still meet with you, depending on the agenda. <br /><br />I will pay your airfare and hotel room expenses for your attendance at such a forum in the New York area, for a meeting within the next 60 days. As stated above, I expect you would be asked to respond to inquiries from your peers, that is, knowledgeable, recognized dealers of the same material which you have authenticated. Should the location not be convenient for you, I'm sure we can arrange a meeting in Falls Church. Mr. Shelly Jaffe has already graciously agreed to attend, as has Mr. Frank Caiazzo. <br /><br />I assume that this email will reach you, since I do not have your emali address. If anyone posting to this site can confirm delivery to Mr. Morales, I would be much obliged.<br /><br />B. Panagopulos <br /><br />PS Shall I assume that your silence in response to this message means you decline my offer?