Chris Morales appears in court for an autograph case, read about the results.

[benjulmag]

is that Mr. Morales plies his trade in an unlicensed profession. In contrast to professions such as law, medicine, actuary, autograph authentication is an unregulated and unlicensed profession. So anybody, regardless of the person's competence or integrity, may practice it. The way to stop unscrupulous authenticators is to have licensing requirements. That will require that prospective practioners demonstrate competence in the area, as well allow the licensing authority to revoke the license of unscrupulous or incompetent licensees. Without that, it is truly the wild west out there, making it quite difficult to obtain criminal convictions.

I might add that it wouldn't be a bad idea for auction houses too to be licensed. Perhaps that might weed out some of the more unscupulous players.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

is that Mr. Morales plies his trade in an unlicensed profession. In contrast to professions such as law, medicine, actuary, autograph authentication is an unregulated and unlicensed profession. So anybody, regardless of the person's competence or integrity, may practice it. The way to stop unscrupulous authenticators is to have licensing requirements. That will require that prospective practioners demonstrate competence in the area, as well allow the licensing authority to revoke the license of unscrupulous or incompetent licensees. Without that, it is truly the wild west out there, making it quite difficult to obtain criminal convictions.

I might add that it wouldn't be a bad idea for auction houses too to be licensed. Perhaps that might weed out some of the more unscupulous players.

I don't know about other states, but Massachusetts licenses auctioneers. And I have seen them enforce rules from the podium.

Licensing may help, but it isn't much of a solution. I wish I'd taken pics of the work a licensed contractor did on my porch. Worse than a bad Jr High shop project. It's been redone now, by a competent contractor. The other porch was done by me - not licensed, not a contractor. It came out much better than what the first guy did. (And the second guy said it was ok work, not up to his standards, but acceptable)

So much licensing these days is based on classes, usually 8-40 hours and a passably challenging test. And often no real experience required unless there's a union involved(Which is another rant I won't afflict you with..)

Steve B

[thetruthisoutthere]

Anyone can take a 2-week course on Handwriting Examination" and call themselves a "Document Examiner."

Just think of the number of people who call themselves "Document Examiners" or "Forensic Experts" who abuse that title.

Then there are the so-called collectors who are totally naive and ignorant, who believe that because a COA reads the word "Forensic" or "Document Examiner" that the autograph must be authentic.

Look at the thousands of so-called collectors who got suckered in by the "Nicholas Burczyk" COA because the COA read "Forensic Document Examiner."

Go to the website of Chris Morales and you'll see pages and pages of credentials and from those credentials this is what you get:

http://www.myccsa.com/Lot.aspx?LotID=272094

This is a close-up of that Ruth cut:

MR.jpg

[GrayGhost]

this just seems like a losing battle. I hope not tho, but terrible indeed. Keep fighting, one person turned away from these scum is good. Plus, certs being banned in places is a good start to what hopefully is a final long term goal.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

this just seems like a losing battle. I hope not tho, but terrible indeed. Keep fighting, one person turned away from these scum is good. Plus, certs being banned in places is a good start to what hopefully is a final long term goal.

I hope not either, Scott. But I, for one, am not going away.

Yes, Christopher L. Morales, Forensic Investigator, on Ebay's banned list.

I read on a website a few weeks ago where someone was blaming a certain person for Morales being placed on Ebay's banned list.

Only one person got Morales on Ebay's banned list and that person is Chris Morales, Forensic Investigator.

[benjulmag]

The merits of licensing is not so much to ensure that competent practioneers ply the trade. I agree with the concerns that the licensing requirements may as a practical matter do little to keep out imcompetent practioneers. Rather the advantage to such a requirement is that it would give the the licensing authority the right to ban those whom by their subsequent actions have been shown to be incompetent and/or unscrupulous. So once it has been shown that a person clearly doesn't know or doesn't care what he is doing, at that point he could be banned. Granted that won't help those adversely impacted by the initial incorrect certifications. But it could materially reduce the number of future victims.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

The merits of licensing is not so much to ensure that competent practioneers ply the trade. I agree with the concerns that the licensing requirements may as a practical matter do little to keep out imcompetent practioneers. Rather the advantage to such a requirement is that it would give the the licensing authority the right to ban those whom by their subsequent actions have been shown to be incompetent and/or unscrupulous. So once it has been shown that a person clearly doesn't know or doesn't care what he is doing, at that point he could be banned. Granted that won't help those adversely impacted by the initial incorrect certifications. But it could materially reduce the number of future victims.

Excellent point, Corey.

Think about this; none of the major auctions will not accept anything on consignment that has a COA from Morales and Ted Taylor (TTA/Stat Authentic). Ted Taylor and Morales are both on Ebay's banned list.

The only auction houses that accept COAs from Morales and Ted Taylor all list and sell horrific forgeries. That pretty much sums it up.