Piedmont Cards / ACE Authenticated Babe Ruth Signed Silver Certificates

[Big Dave]

Hello Frank,

I looked on your website, Piedmont Cards, and I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but I know for a fact, that both of these Babe Ruth autographed 1935G Silver Certificates are forgeries. There is absolutely no possible way that these are authentic Babe Ruth autographs. The first one you have for sale at 3000.00 and the second one is for sale at 3500.00.

[Piedmont Sport]

Thanks Dave - ALL ACE autographs removed and we are sending to JSA

[RichardSimon]

Jimmy must be happy,,, 13 Mathewson and 42 Ruth autographs,,, sweet,,,,thousnds of dollars for Jimmy,,
hope you can get a refund on these from your seller Frank.

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Hello Frank,

I looked on your website, Piedmont Cards, and I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but I know for a fact, that both of these Babe Ruth autographed 1935G Silver Certificates are forgeries. There is absolutely no possible way that these are authentic Babe Ruth autographs. The first one you have for sale at 3000.00 and the second one is for sale at 3500.00.

Dave - Just trying to educate myself a little bit, but can you share why you are so certain these aren't authenticate? Not questioning you, just trying to learn more.

Thanks,
Matt

[Big Dave]

Hi Frank,

Save your money on the two Silver Certificates, as no opinion is needed on these two.

If you will research the names for the Register of Treasury (C. Douglas Dillon) and Secretary of Treasury (Elizabeth Rudel Smith), you will see that their term of office was from 1-30-1961 to 4-13-1962. Being as Babe Ruth died in 1948, it was impossible for him to have signed these Silver Certificates.

Sorry.

[mr2686]

Looks like ACE forgot rule #1...was the item available to sign during the signers lifetime.

[Piedmont Sport]

Thanks Dave - I know the coin shop that they were purchased at in Philadelphia - i'll be there today

[RichardSimon]

I have caught several other items the same way over the years including a Ruth signed picture with a printed insciption at the bottom that said "Greatest Ever right fielder" or something like that. Problem is the "greatest ever" series of photos came out in 1950.
I do my homework when I buy and when I authenticate, guess some others don't.

[thetruthisoutthere]

I would love to hear from Mr. Priddy (ACE).

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Piedmont Sport

Thanks Dave - I know the coin shop that they were purchased at in Philadelphia - i'll be there today

Frank, did one coin shop in Philly sell you all those Ruth's and Matty's?
If I were you , you have a chance to be a hero here. Work with LE and get those guys busted.
There have been forgery busts in PA before, Hooper I believe was the gentleman's name. Track down that case and get in touch with the LE that busted him.

[Piedmont Sport]

I'm having my Biz partner Stef Brown ESQ. handle from this point and we can pin -point 3 dealers - Shops,,,,, we will get to the bottom ,,,, naturally i'm pissed,,,, and Stef suggested that we want to make sure all the info left in this forum is correct. And a big issue is how i handle Justin Priddy - Thats a great deal of money spent. I wont be the first and im sure I wont be the last to be made to look like a fool.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Piedmont Sport

I wont be the first and im sure I wont be the last to be made to look like a fool.

It's how you handle the situation and yourself after the fact, which you will be judged on, most of the times. Mistakes happen. If you aren't making mistakes you probably aren't pushing the boundaries far enough, imho.

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Hi Frank,

Save your money on the two Silver Certificates, as no opinion is needed on these two.

If you will research the names for the Register of Treasury (C. Douglas Dillon) and Secretary of Treasury (Elizabeth Rudel Smith), you will see that their term of office was from 1-30-1961 to 4-13-1962. Being as Babe Ruth died in 1948, it was impossible for him to have signed these Silver Certificates.

Sorry.

Outstanding detective work Dave, appreciate your reply!

[thetruthisoutthere]

Yes, nice work, Dave.

[Fuddjcal]

Is this Dope Purdy the the new whipping boy or is he going all Chris Moral Less on us and authenticating everything he see's???? I'd like to think he is just a complete Nincompoop and a HORRIBLE authenticator, not a crook like Moral Less, but one has to wonder?

I would say to Frank, the owner of the silver certs... to stop using that butt wad to cert your stuff. He's sinking your ship & trying to ruin your good name. I'd rather buy an auto with nothing on it and know it's authentic than to use a boob like this guy who has been coming up short time and time again lately.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Piedmont Sport

I'm having my Biz partner Stef Brown ESQ. handle from this point and we can pin -point 3 dealers - Shops,,,,, we will get to the bottom ,,,, naturally i'm pissed,,,, and Stef suggested that we want to make sure all the info left in this forum is correct. And a big issue is how i handle Justin Priddy - Thats a great deal of money spent. I wont be the first and im sure I wont be the last to be made to look like a fool.

Oh, come on, Frank. Do you really expect that "I was duped" crap to play?

[thetruthisoutthere]

My question to Frank is "Why did you post that Babe Ruth hand-written note authenticated by ACE?" Was that your way of defending him as a good authenticator?

Also, if you knew it was a "Dead on Ruth" why would you have ACE authenticate it and not PSA or JSA?

And how could you possibly purchase all of those Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Matty cuts without raising an eyebrow?

[RichardSimon]

Nice work Dave, it is hard for the sellers of this kind of crap to dispute cold hard facts.
They can talk about one authenticator or another all they want, but facts are facts.
But,,, I wonder if they could have snuck a pen into Babe's grave and asked him for a few last signatures?

[thetruthisoutthere]

The proof is in the pudding, Frank. I will post the below photograph again. How did both you and Justin not notice that the "S" in Sincerely is written the same as the "L" in Lou?

Pep-5.jpg

[David Atkatz]

Although that Gehrig note is as phony as a three-dollar bill, Chris, the "S" is fine. It is a copy of an actual Gehrig letter, and he did write his "S" that way.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Although that Gehrig note is as phony as a three-dollar bill, Chris, the "S" is fine. It is a copy of an actual Gehrig letter, and he did write his "S" that way.

That's interesting, David, I appreciate that info. Yes, the Gehrig is bad, but I never knew Mr. Gehrig wrote his "S" like that. I appreciate the information, David, and my apologies to Frank on that one.

[David Atkatz]

I should make it clear, Chris, that not all of Gehrig's upper-case Ss look like that. But in this particular note, it did.

[pclpads]

Wasn't Priddy the authenticator for GAI when they were in Irvine, CA.?

[mr2686]

Looks like it:
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...sues-with-gai/

Also, if you put in GAI and Priddy in a search engine you come across some other forums that are not too pleased with certain authentication results.

[RichardSimon]

I keep wondering if Mr Priddy will come on this forum and defend himself.
Hard to defend the things we have seen today.
How can you defend yourself when you authenticated 13 Mathewson autographs and 42 Ruth autographs from the same seller.
He can say he thought about it but never wanted to ask about it.
Why try to kill the goose that was laying him golden eggs?

[David Atkatz]

I'd like to see Prisco defend himself.

[earlywynnfan]

1. Priddy was the administrator on gameusedforum.com's autograph side. A thread came up with some bad Jeter balls that had been OK'd by him for an auction house. He said that he would look into the situation. Several members asked about him making retribution for the cost, since he had come on the forum saying he now thought they were bad. To this date, well over a year later, he has yet to respond. My point: I don't think he'll be coming here to defend himself.

2. I don't know Frank/Piedmont, I've never dealt with him and have no idea what kind of dealer or human being he is. But two things I've read in these 2 posts stick out to me: he acquired a (relatively speaking) huge group of Mathewson autos, along with a large group of Ruths, all authenticated by a second-tier authenticator with a very iffy past (not only my opinion, just using a basic 2-minute google search), and he doesn't bat an eye! Secondly, after reading the other post twice, I get the feeling he submits his items around until someone says they're good. Neither of these makes me want to buy from him.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[RichardSimon]

Did I hear anyone say US Attorney/Postal Inspector investigation?
Some members of this board have already had discussions with postal inspectors and US Attorneys about ongoing transgressions.
Frank, you can help out here.
Give us the names of the people/places you bought all that bad crap from.
You might turn out to be a hero.
You can write to me privately with the names, I realize that you won't want to expose them here on the board. I will pass along the names to the proper people.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

Did I hear anyone say US Attorney/Postal Inspector investigation?
Some members of this board have already had discussions with postal inspectors and US Attorneys about ongoing transgressions.
Frank, you can help out here.
Give us the names of the people/places you bought all that bad crap from.
You might turn out to be a hero.

I agree with Richard.

[travrosty]

(Travis Roste)




When I saw this last year on ebay, it was all i ever needed to know about Justin Priddy.

attached photo 1 is a wife signed rocky marciano photo that was on ebay with an email quick opinion from justin priddy at ace, that called the signed photo a genuine rocky marciano.

photo #2. shows the quick opinion email that the seller posted.

when the seller was informed that the photo was NOT signed by rocky marciano, but by his wife, and shown proof, all of the sudden the email that was posted changed to the email shown in photo 3, which said the quick opinion could not be processed due to lack of payment, this was an earlier email that ace sent back to the seller. All of the sudden the seller wasn't so happy with the second later email that said it was good.

photo 3, lack of payment email replacing the email that said the signed photo was a good marciano signed photo. Priddy's fault was to certify the wife signed as good. Not in switching emails to the previous one. that was the sellers attempt to cover for the fact the signature was no good.

photo 4 and 5 are other wife signed marciano autographs, which looks nothing like a real marciano autograph , which is photo 6.

I emailed Priddy and told him we are trying to get the fakes off of ebay, not certify them, and I got no response. If this is in error, Justin please come on here and clarify. If you don't know marciano's signature, just pass.

He doesn't know a wife signed marciano from a real one. how can that be? he must have a wife signed marciano autograph mistakenly in his examplar files, but how can he have one of those next to real marciano examples, they look nothing alike if you look close at them. He is suppose to be good at this. It's basic marciano 101 education in knowing this wife signed autograph example. He says he is the worlds leader with the deepest exemplar files.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Great information, Travis. Thanks for posting that.

[GrayGhost]

That Marciano is HILARIOUS. I don't understand how anyone could be so stupid as to not know the difference. And if he had a "large exemplar" file, he would have just more than the wife version.

Its really good that this guy and his "dethentication" skills are being exposed. On an aside, a lot of the Matty stuff, and other stuff looks EERILY similar to stuff I have seen on Coach's. Someone is buying that crap and trying to move it, not just dumb dealers. Im NOT accusing Mr Prisco of that, but its apparent someone is taking that route.

Making strides in the fight against these crooks is better than standing w feet in quicksand.

[RichardSimon]

There is not much more to be said about ACE after seeing those Marciano items.
WOW!!

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

. On an aside, a lot of the Matty stuff, and other stuff looks EERILY similar to stuff I have seen on Coach's. Someone is buying that crap and trying to move it, not just dumb dealers. Im NOT accusing Mr Prisco of that, but its apparent someone is taking that route.

Making strides in the fight against these crooks is better than standing w feet in quicksand.

If only Frank Prisco would come forward and talk to LE about his sources of these items.
If they are the same sources as CC, we could finally bury CC.
Wouldn't that be a nice fringe benefit of this mess.
Frank - I appeal to you to write to me privately and I can help you get in touch with the right people.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

If only Frank Prisco would come forward and talk to LE about his sources of these items.
If they are the same sources as CC, we could finally bury CC.
Wouldn't that be a nice fringe benefit of this mess.
Frank - I appeal to you to write to me privately and I can help you get in touch with the right people.

Richard, I wish I could be optimistic about that kind of action being taken, but I'm not.

In my opinion, it's easy to speculate that if Mr. Prisco had thirteen (13) Christy Mathewson cut signatures up for sale on his website, and if, as he wrote, already sold four other Christy Mathewson cut sigs, is it possible that the total number he's purchased over the years could total 30, 50, 75, 100, etc?

For one person to be able to purchase seventeen (17) Christy Mathewson cut sigs is incomprehensible. And for one authenticator (Justin Priddy, ACE) not to raise an eyebrow at that number is also incomprehensible.

But, no matter what the number is, the cut sigs are horrific.

[murphusa]

how the world turns, this week we visited a relative of my wife's. Unbeknown to me was that he had an autpgraph business in an antique mall. When we went to his booth I could tell something was wrong and asked where he obtained his material. He said Coaches Corner. I told him the truth about the company and he stated proudly that in 5 years of doing business he only had one return which he sent back to CC and was given a full refund,

To him they are a company that stands behind their product.


I could never change this guys mind

[mr2686]

I'm wondering if you take 4 or 5 of the top, most respected and ethical dealers in the hobby, and ask them how many Matty's they have handled in their combined years as dealers, what the total number would be? Hmmmmmmm

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by murphusa

how the world turns, this week we visited a relative of my wife's. Unbeknown to me was that he had an autpgraph business in an antique mall. When we went to his booth I could tell something was wrong and asked where he obtained his material. He said Coaches Corner. I told him the truth about the company and he stated proudly that in 5 years of doing business he only had one return which he sent back to CC and was given a full refund,

To him they are a company that stands behind their product.


I could never change this guys mind

Scares me to think that a guy like this probably has a drivers license and a voter registration card.
I don't believe this guy at all. How could an "autograph dealer" look at CC every month and not know that they are selling crap.
Perhaps they are fooling the occasional, casual buyer but a dealer? No, I don't believe that any dealer who has bought from them for five years does not know that they are selling crap.

[David Atkatz]

But you seem to believe (based on your pleas) that Frank is just an innocent dupe of the evil fraudsters.

[murphusa]

He sells used records and other stuff so the autographs are a sideline. Most of the stuff is from the entertainment side of things. He believes because CC has backed him the one time he got the return.

Like I said I could not convince him they were bad

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

But you seem to believe (based on your pleas) that Frank is just an innocent dupe of the evil fraudsters.

This is not to speak for everyone else here, David, but I don't think anyone believes that.

[thetruthisoutthere]

In my opinion, when it comes to authenticating autographs, Justin Priddy (ACE) now resides in the same circle as Chris Morales and Ted Taylor.

[GrayGhost]

yet, oftentimes, a "fancy watermarker or w/e" COA w calligraphy and all can dupe an unsuspecting buyer. People just need to do their homework and find out who really offers the most accurate OPINIONS (thats all they are). Then, PSA, JSA, Richard Simon, Keating and others will get the business. Nobody is infallible, but I know I would do my homework before buying something I really want, be it a Matty sig or something more common like a Pete Rose.

These three you mentioned Chris, belong in the circle of doom, or a vortex to flush them out of the hobby.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

In my opinion, when it comes to authenticating autographs, Justin Priddy (ACE) now resides in the same circle as Chris Morales and Ted Taylor.

Chris Morales clearly takes the dubious distinction of the #1 slot with Ted Taylor close behind in the #2 position.

Battling it out for 3rd, we have Justin Priddy, Donald Frangipani, Drew Max and the mysterious Nicholas Burczyk.

Quite a distinguished crew!!

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Chris Morales clearly takes the dubious distinction of the #1 slot with Ted Taylor close behind in the #2 position.

Battling it out for 3rd, we have Justin Priddy, Donald Frangipani, Drew Max and the mysterious Nicholas Burczyk.

Quite a distinguished crew!!

None of these guys offer opinions. They sell certificates. Call it "forgery laundering."

[Big Dave]

Frank,

There was also a check on your website made out to Babe Ruth and endorsed on the back by him. This check was drawn on the Bank of Manhattan Company. The check was from a Louise B......

Do not waste your money sending that check to JSA either. Spence did certify one of those last year as genuine and the seller put it on eBay with the JSA letter. Apparently, someone contacted Spence after the auction was listed. Spence then contacted the seller and stated he was decertifying the check and invalidating the Letter of Authenticity he had given. For some reason he now stated the Babe Ruth signature on the back of the check was not authentic. This is from information the seller added to the auction after a quite a few people bid on it.

Now keep in mind, the check was reviewed in person by JSA, so they did examine it thoroughly and certified it as a genuine Babe Ruth signature, in their opinion. But later on, JSA stated the signature was not authentic and invalidated the original Letter of Authenticity that they issued.

Maybe it is authentic one day, and maybe it isn't the next. We really don't know.

I have seen a number of these checks over the years, and to my knowledge these are authentic. I have seen these checks in Heritage Auctions, and other places. Spence thought these checks were authentic too. Why that changed, I have no idea.

[canjond]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Frank,

There was also a check on your website made out to Babe Ruth and endorsed on the back by him. This check was drawn on the Bank of Manhattan Company. The check was from a Louise B......

Do not waste your money sending that check to JSA either. Spence did certify one of those last year as genuine and the seller put it on eBay with the JSA letter. Apparently, someone contacted Spence after the auction was listed. Spence then contacted the seller and stated he was decertifying the check and invalidating the Letter of Authenticity he had given. For some reason he now stated the Babe Ruth signature on the back of the check was not authentic. This is from information the seller added to the auction after a quite a few people bid on it.

Now keep in mind, the check was reviewed in person by JSA, so they did examine it thoroughly and certified it as a genuine Babe Ruth signature, in their opinion. But later on, JSA stated the signature was not authentic and invalidated the original Letter of Authenticity that they issued.

Maybe it is authentic one day, and maybe it isn't the next. We really don't know.

I have seen a number of these checks over the years, and to my knowledge these are authentic. I have seen these checks in Heritage Auctions, and other places. Spence thought these checks were authentic too. Why that changed, I have no idea.

Here is one the Roaches are selling: http://www.myccsa.com/Lot/196/babe-r...eck-piece.aspx

[old13man]

Not only did he disappear from here...he pulled out of ebay also. He is no longer a registered user. Wonder where his stuff will pop up next?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by old13man

Not only did he disappear from here...he pulled out of ebay also. He is no longer a registered user. Wonder where his stuff will pop up next?

Charles,
Who are you talking about, Frank Prisco?

[old13man]

Yes