Tim - I can only give you my impression, as it applies to the narrow subject I know about - identifying Deaball Era and 19thC baseball photos.
1) I have found very very few people that are really good at this
2) It represents only a very small part of the auction business - it's very tiny compared to cards, therefore...
3) It does not make economic sense to have full-time in-house expertise for this. (which they might not be able to find anyway)
4) Mis-identified photos have been sold for years without adequate challenge. Hopefully it won't be so easy going forward.
In spite of all the angry posting on Net54, someone still bid over 3 grand for Leland's photo of Miller Huggins that's really Al Bridwell - there always seems to be someone with both $ and ignorance.
Barry said:"they should put you on a retainer or at least give you a great present!"
Thanks Barry. I would not disagree with that. When I post these things
prior to the close of an auction - I am adding value to the auction (at least Legendary must think so, though Leland's clearly does not). Maybe I should wait until the auction closes.
