posted 10-20-2006 07:13 AM
Every Aurora auction i look forward to Kens and other peoples opinions on the lots. AS a collector who has limited funds usually only able to bid a few hundred dollars in total with 10 years experience in collecting space stuff their unbiased opinions help me on weather I should bid on a Grissom or keep the money and go of to a dealer website.Knowing that Ken and a few others own multiples and have had access to multiples of these autographs and are not trying to warn you off a lot that they are trying to buy.
For example, I could post that lot xxx is a fake because i want to keep the value down. But there would be a dozen posts disagreeing.
Please do not upset Ken and others from posting their opinions on the auctions, that they stop as they provide a valuable unasked for service which helps the newer members of our communities.
Again just my opinion.
Like this one was from an Australian book dealer I met in Melbourne a few years ago, He showed me a folder of astronaut autographs of which 75% were obvious autopens and another 20% I would have referred to experts ie they just didn't look right. Anyway I questioned him about them and his comment was I got them from a guy who had been collecting for x years and had written to NASA direct for the autographs , So the signatures are authentic.
I explained about autopen machines and his response was yes they exist for presidents of the USA but astronauts wouldn't use them as it would be bad for public relations!
Now the funny thing is I did by two autographs from him (Which I thought were OK)a stafford $au35 which has since been deemed an autopen and a Borman $au 30 which has been identified as authentic. My view when I bought was if they were authentic I had a bargain and if the were autopens I haddn't spent the earth.
posted 10-20-2006 02:25 AM
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