Crooks in Collectables

[Melvin Graf]

In every field of historical interest are conmen. Some are low end (like a person recently banned from this blog) and some are high end. In any case, a con is con (aka a crime). The link is to an article about three high end conmen in Civil War collectables. The good thing is their crimes were discovered and they were actually found guilty in a court of law with one serving prison time. It's a shame that two of them had actually been appraisers on the "Antiques Roadshow" and used their positions to commit fraud. As the article says, "In total, the three men - Russell Pritchard III, Russell Pritchard Jr., and George Juno - were responsible for more than $1.2 million in historical memorabilia fraud."

I never cease to be amazed at all the items said to have belonged to Jesse James offered by auction houses and private individuals. The man must have owned a truck load of trunks and an armory full of guns. He must have also been the most photographed man of the 19th Century.

Anyway, it's good to see such crooks face justice (good on the FBI):

http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/features/crime-and-litigat...

Be wary out there!

[Irvin Blankenship]

Mel, thanks for the post. I'm familiar with these guys. It's a shame that they stole some nice items from good people. My guess is that it's just the tip of the iceberg. At least there is some degree of justice.

[Wolfgang]

I don't watch the "Antiques Road Show" . . but have seen a few minute of it here and there over the years. . . and . . . I did see the "Watermelon Sword" episode. Very interesting ! Thanks much for posting. Over on the Winchester collectors Forum there are occasionally links posted to Winchester Rifles that are offered for sale with bubious links to famous people to enhance their "sale ability" to the gullible. One currently for sale on "Gunbroker" with engraving on the side plate "First Prize - Bill Cody" on it. HUH ? And a $ 10,000 price. ;(

[Michael]

The best can be fooled, but education is the key to prevent from getting screwed.http://www.armchairgunshow.com/fake.htm

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

It's estimated that approximately 40% of the 'ephemera'--paper artifacts--sold as historical is forged. There's no question that the so-called 'de la Peña diary,' at least the parts of it about the Alamo (for which UT-Austin paid an incredible amount of [taxpayer?] money) were forged in the 1930s by William A. Laflin, a retired UP railroad engineer. He also forged the 'Laffite papers' in the Sam Houston State U library at Huntsville, the 'Isaac Milsaps letter' from the Alamo, letters allegedly from George Washington & Abe Lincoln--all in all, about 600 documents, & he's just the tip of the iceberg.

I can't prove it, but at least one person may have been killed as a result of the sale of the 'Lafitte papers.' It was ruled 'suicide,' but if it was I can't figure how. The guy 'shot himself.' Twice. In the back. With a shotgun. Nobody's found the weapon, though he was killed in an open area.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Or pay an 'expert' to 'document' an artifact, like the 'professor' at Adelaide U in Australia who's 'authenticating' all those 'old west artifacts' that mysteriously turn up in Tasmania.

I have an S&W #2, made in 1868, that I have reason to believe once belonged to Wes Hardin. It was retailed that year in Kansas--which is the year Wes, at 15, made his first cattle drive. It was found on a junk table at a gun show in SW Georgia, about 60 mi from Pollard, Alabama, where Wes, his wife, & their children were living when he was captured. The original purchaser took off the grips to see if they were original to the gun--S&W stamped the gun's serial # inside the grips. They were original, in his words 'about 100 years of grunge' fell out, & carved inside the grips were the initials JWH. The timeline is right, the location is right, & every authenticated Wes Hardin gun is marked in that way. Still, I went to the well with it. I showed it to Leon Metz. In Leon's opinion, it is an authentic Wes Hardin gun. The pistol--along with Leon's letter stating in his opinion the pistol is an actual Wes Hardin weapon--is in our local museum. It's on loan. I didn't give it away.