Mantle fake?
 

Just wanted to verify this is a fake. It appears based on info from Google that it is. But I don't know Mick's autograph like you guys on the board do. Which brings me to 2 additional questions....

1. Is pretty much everything with a COA from Guaranteed Forensic Authentication (GFA) bogus?

2. Are there basic things to look for in a Mantle autograph to tell whether it is legit or a fake?

Thanks,
Chris

1) Yes it is bad
2) I don't think you can ever say that everything is bad that is certed by any company, but GFA is not thought of as one of the best to my knowledge.
3) Many in here refrain from posting specifics due to the fact that we don't want to educate the scammers that are likely reading this forum as well. In this auto the give away is the M's. they are just bad.

Okay, follow up question. What is the general reliability of authentications from The Score Board, Inc. signed by Ken Goldin? Is that the same Goldin that runs Goldin Auctions now?

Thoughts?

GFA (Stephen Rocchi) was started in Sept. 2011.

I have yet to see an authentic Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Mays or Koufax with a COA from GFA.

Rocchi charges $25.00 for his so-called "Forensic Examination."

What the heck does forensics have to do with opining autographs!!!



http://live.autographmagazine.com/fo...cchi-certified

I also saw an Ali & DiMaggio photo with the GFA COA. Should one assume the same with the Ali?

Personally, I have yet to see one authentic autograph with a COA from Rocchi and his GFA Group.

Not one.

Score Board is good, same Goldin.......

The only issue is that scammers over the last 5-7 years have used old Scoreboard certs (and copies and edited versions) to sell forgeries.

The majority of those who buy autographs, purchase the cert and not the autograph.


http://live.autographmagazine.com/pr...age=1#comments

+1

I guess that's the point of the cert. For someone like me who only has autographs he has had personally signed or given to me from someone I know, I can't tell a fake from the real thing. So if I see an item that looks cool, I have to rely on a cert.

Here are a couple of pieces from The Sports Card, Inc that caught my eye.

Yankee Immortals
 

Here's one more with a strange cert. It's numbered so maybe some have seen this one before? Looked on ebay and this photo is up for sale with many different frames and presentations, none numbered the same way this one is, but the kicker is there are several different COA's for this pic online. One stated it came from The Sports Board, Inc's inventory. This one is all over the place so definitely need the pros eyes on the sigs.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Scoreboard has an interesting reputation. Since the fraudsters have gone to copying & switching out COAs, I've picked up good Scoreboard stuff up cheap.

Did the proliferation of phony Scoreboard COAs just occur (because of their strong reputation in the past) or was that going on while they were in business?

YMC is just one of dozens of 'Florida" COAs.

They all come from the same source.

The "Scoreboard" items in the previous posts are all fakes with bogus photocopied Scoreboard COAs. Real Scoreboard COAs didn't look like a 3rd generation photocopy.

Scoreboard product was all good. Unfortunately, their very simple paper COAs have been targeted by scammers who copied them over the past 20 years. At this point, I think there are more bogus Scoreboard COAs in circulation than real.

Rocchi and GFA have "certed" hundreds of those forgeries.

Not even hand-penned.

The below is one of those with a "cert" from Rocchi and GFA.

Sold by Ebay seller Spanishcrown360 (a major seller of forgeries on Ebay) for a whopping $102.50.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi-Signed...p2047675.l2557






Attachment 283667

Attachment 283668

Tony Podsada used to be associated with score board. He has printed out thousands of fake score board certs. He has also sold millions and millions of dollars worth of forged material.
I would suggest that anything with autographs coming out of the state of Florida and or from GAI stay as far away as possible.

Ebay seller Homeplatememorabilia-23 forged signed Mickey Mantle Photo
 

Here is the absolute latest "Florida" COA.

It's from "new" Ebay seller Homeplatememorabilia-23.

COA, of course, from Home Plate Memorabilia.

Selling the same mass-produced forgeries out of Florida.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantl...8AAOSwLgtZjNc8





Attachment 283686

Attachment 283687

They stand behind this autograph...just before running away. LOL

Ebay seller Boxscorecollectibles Forged Signed Mantle DiMaggio Ford Martin
 

Another recent and new "Florida" COA is Boxscorecollectibles from Ebay seller Boxscorecollectibles (duh).


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Joe-DiMaggio...p2047675.l2557



Attachment 283706

Attachment 283707




The above set of Mantle, DiMaggio, Ford and Martin forgeries sold for a whopping $59.99.

The recent "Florida" forgeries are, for the most part, hand penned and are simply laughable.

The earliest "Florida" forgeries (certed by Morales, Ted Taylor, Drew Max and Stephen Rocchi) are not hand-signed.

I'd love to see the photo paper branding on one of these.

I've had a few in hand. There was no marking on back, of course. But they are inkjet prints... Not lab produced photographs.

So a dealer spends big bucks to get these guys to sign a ton of photos back in the 90s -- earlier for Maris and Martin. It makes total sense they would use 5x7 inkjet photos.

Love that Home Plate COA. They're standing behind it completely...and if they walk around the edge of the table, they'll be standing behind it partially...and if they walk to the other side of the table, they're standing in front of it.

What kind of guarantee is that? They're making the effort to produce these, you'd think they'd come up with something that at least sounds professional and confidence inspiring.

I have quite a few of those that I purchased from AtAuction.

The forgeries are so bad, that the shipping cost more than the forged autograph.

All on inkjet paper.

Mike, they don't run: they just move on to another worthless COA.

Is it me or does these 100% guarantees make it easier for the feds to crack down on them? If they were so inclined?

These photos bring back memories from trips to Las Vegas. My work took me Vegas often and within 30 minutes checking into the hotel I would head over well know card store on strip. I bought a ton of stuff from them , the items were well framed and the autographs were in clear blue sharpie. One time I told them I was looking for a Mays autograph and before I went home they had one in stock. What luck . I was walking near the store the day it was raided by the FBI.


The good news thanks to a helpful San Diego FBI agent I received all my money back via court settlement from the seller.

The were all Greg Marino forgeries

Lesson learned.

Just to let you know. Richard, Chris and I worked hand in hand with law reinforcement for the past seven years. It all came to and end when the FBI in Florida refused to issue warrants
If any one of you want to call your local FBI and get this started again it would be greatly appreciated.
.

I'm talking about the ones that are obviously stretched JPEG of people who died before that was even a thing.

That FBI raid on that store was either televised live or in a news story about the raid. I remember seeing it on TV. The owner of the store was whimpering like a little baby when the Feds hauled off all his crap.

The store was Smokey's in Nevada.

Yes

Between New York and Monte Carlo casinos using present day landmarks

The staff was so friendly

T

What a waste of time and effort on our part.
A major disappointment for the three of us and a lesson learned about LE.

If I remember correctly though they had a box of their certs stolen from a loading dock. While I trust them, I have unfortunately run across any number of fakes with their cert.

The FBI doesn't issue warrants, the courts do.

Semantics.

The point Shelly was making is that nothing was done.

Law enforcement doesn't issue "warrants". The FBI and local LE acts on warrants and indictments issued by the court and has very little control over it. Get a clue before you and Shelly continue to throw law enforcement officers under the bus. The problem is with your local district attorney or US attorneys office.

BTW: they may also be a little busy with the never ending amount of violent crime occurring nationwide on a daily basis.

Chris,
It's not semantics. LE often is left frustrated and disheartened when attorneys fail to act on their hard work. This comment pretty much cements my comment above. Get a clue

Ok. The proper wording was the US Attorney's office dropped the ball.
That was told to me by a former FBI agent who was involved in the case from the start of it until it was transferred out of his jurisdiction to the FBI in Florida. He was involved in other cases involving hobby forgery and has been instrumental in the fight against forgers. He is now a retired FBI agent and consults for the FBI.
He called me, Shelly and Chris to personally tell us that the US Attorney was dropping the case and he was distraught about it.

I agree the courts issue the warrants if they are asked to do so. The FBI refused to pursue the case.
You have seen all the phony photos that have been coming out if Florida.
Well the FBI lab in Phoenix found them to on paper that was not yet issued until ten years after Mantle died. They sent this information plus many other facts that proved that all the signatures where fake.
The Miami FBI refused to do anything about it period case closed.
It will take the people on this site to call there local FBI.

Though it is not "violent crime" it was multi millions of $$$. Certainly enough to warrant a prosecution. And obviously, due to the diligence of Chris, we still see that this garbage is still being sold.
The evidence, seemingly to Shelly, myself and Chris, was very strong and we still scratch our heads that the case was dropped.

Everyone continues to blame law enforcement when cases are brought or dropped by the US attorney or district attorney. Also, "proof" is what can be presented or proven in a court of law, not some forum discussion where people or bloggers discuss something endlessly. If you know anything about the law you should know that most evidence doesn't even make it to court or does not "prove" anything.

I will agree to disagree with you, Jason.

In this context, it's semantics.

If you knew what we know, you would agree.

There was major forensic evidence in this case. And not the type of forensic evidence that we mock here.

That's fine, but it falls on the US Attorneys office, not law enforcement.

Not in this case.

That's why I previously wrote "If you knew what we know."

In the whole scheme of things, this is only important to us, which is why I continue to do what I do.

There are many, many more pressing issues in this world.

For the most part, I am over it now, but it is still very frustrating.

Eskimo, just so you know. The FBI agents who where handling this case told the US Attorney that they did not want to go further with the case. It was then closed. Even with all the evidence.
This is what we have been told by the ex FBI agent we are working with.
If you have a problem with that then there is nothing we can say to change your mind.

Absolutely.

Ok, well I stand corrected on this case. It's gets pretty old when the same people continue to bash the system (i.e. LE) when most people don't know how the system works. The system sucks and most people tend to blame the lowest common denominator which is LE. As if they want to let crime run rampant in all aspects of society. The failure is with your local district attorney or US attorney office. Even with this story, I would bet that there is more to the story than what you are being told.