Quote:
Originally Posted by perezfan
It's not just Coach's Corner... All of the bogus/fraudulent authenticators of the 90s - 2000s used the term "Forensic". It was either in their title or was used to describe their shady/fake investigative practices.
J. Dimaggio, Frank Garo, Donald Frangipani, and a bunch of others tried to impress, and cojole the public into thinking they were legitimate and/or knew what they were doing. It got to the point where any company using the term "forensic" could immediately be dismissed as worthless (at a minimum) or bought-off (at a maximum).
Anyone who collected during this time knew it, and the "F" word has subsequently been tainted ever since the FBI's Operation Bullpen put all of those clowns out of business. It was so rampant that (to this day) you never see legitimate authenticators using "Forensic" in their titles. And of course today, all of those forensic documents and LOAs are deemed completely and laughably worthless.
|
I lived through that time, intimately involved in the hobby throughout, but never got the memo that the word "forensic" had been rendered inoperative. I set up at shows with Keating for 12 years, and don't remember us ever having that particular discussion. Kevin was adamant, though, that so-called letters of authenticity should actually be called letters of opinion, so maybe the term "authenticity" should be the one declared inoperative instead. "Legitimate authenticators" can use whatever terminology they want, but don't mind me if I continue to use the word I think describes a situation with the most precision. I will, however, take your caution into advisement should I ever become one myself, something about as likely as ever resolving with overwhelmingly certainty whether the General Gum piece is "good" or not.