celebrity items

[ieatbees]

My uncle collects celebrity items - he has all sorts of stuff from clothes to cars, to lighters to photos. How can i check that these items are genuine? as he's getting on a bit and has just bought a "Frank Sinatra" piano for a lot of money on the web, and personally i don't think it's old enough. Some of the older items have photos or certificates - but i would still like to check their authenticity. how can i do this?

[joko]

you could contact the estate of sinatra and ask or ask the seller to see a photo of it with sinatra. you may be able to search photgraphic images of frank on the net and look for the piano in them.

unfortunately this happens a lot though some people don't really want to know the truth - let your uncle believe it, if he's already paid - he'd be gutted, but insist you double check next time.

there are  approxiamtely 4 skulls claiming to belong to oliver cromwell on the market - one of them is a childs skull and the sellers marketing strategy? - it was cromwell when he was a child!!

[lepers]

now thats what i call marketing!!

[smurfchops]

Try auctioneers like Phillips, Bonhams, Christies.  They have various auctions dealing with celebrities and would know if autographs etc are authentic - you could say you are thinking of selling them and they should give you some idea of price and whether they are genuine.  You might even be able to send photos of the items to them in London.