Colossal Auctions?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

Steve - granted the term rubber stamp is an error, but the metal and wood block had the same purpose as a rubber stamp and I would not really take him to task for that misuse of the words rubber stamp. We all understand what he meant.

I agree Richard. I was maybe a bit over the top on that one. The block was likely used to print some of the various "signed" form letters Churchill used.

My poorly made point was that everyone makes mistakes, sometimes they're minor, sometimes they're more obvious to someone more familiar with an object. I do think that how those mistakes are handled matters, and there's an appearance of unwillingness to correct a minor technical issue. (My wife and I "discuss" this somewhat regularly, if someone doesn't get the easy stuff right I have little faith in them getting the big stuff right.)

Sadly I have the feeling that the underlying argument is one of how to best correct problems. One group believes that the authentication industry as a whole is fatally flawed and that going after the biggest names is the best way to force some adjustments. The other side thinks the overall industry is needed and workable, and that the most productive path is eliminating those who are either totally incompetent or deliberately authenticating fakes.
I think both have their place.

I'd like to see LOAs changed to be more like the certs given for stamps. For those, you tell them what you believe the stamp is and the certs gives the correct identification, with a statement like "it is genuine, with a sealed tear 1mm from the left corner" or " it is genuine, reperforated on the right side" and less commonly, "we render no opinion" (For the card Scott shows it would call it a genuine rubber stamp of Goodens signature)
The stamp certs of course have their own problems and scandals, as well as incompetent expertisers.

I do have a question about how the larger companies work. Does the signer of the LOA actually do all the authenticating for a company like PSA/DNA? Or is it more like cards where there are multiple people working under supervision?

Steve B