BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Case): Baseball: America's Homerun (2 of 3) -- Counterfeits

DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Case): Baseball: America's Homerun (2 of 3) -- Counterfeits:

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Description of Pictures: Baseball: America's Homerun
April 9, 2022 – January 5, 2025
Level 2, Postmasters Gallery Floor Plan
The National Postal Museum presents a blockbuster exhibition exploring America’s national pastime. Featuring hundreds of U.S. and international stamps commemorating great players and historic moments, and drawing on original artwork and archival material from the United States Postal Service’s esteemed Postmaster General’s Collection, the exhibition approaches the story from a unique, worldwide perspective. The display of stamps and mail will be complemented by dozens of objects loaned by other Smithsonian Institution museums, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, law enforcement agencies, and private collectors. The exhibition, presented in English and Spanish through a collaboration with the Smithsonian Latino Center, will have broad appeal to collectors of stamps and memorabilia, family audiences, and diehard fans.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BASEB2_220412_001.JPG: Investigating Frauds in Baseball Memorabilia Some baseball fans want to bring home a piece of the game. There is a multi-billion-dollar market for sports memorabilia—and there are plenty of unscrupulous people willing to make a quick buck selling forgeries and counterfeit goods. When these scammers ship their merchandise or exchange payment through the mail, they’ve committed mail fraud. The United States Postal Inspection Service investigates and responds to criminal activity that uses the U.S. Postal Service and the mail. Postal inspectors respond to reports of suspect baseball collectibles advertised, sold, or shipped in the U.S. mail, and the case investigations can help consumers look for signs of potential scams.
2. BASEB2_220412_006.JPG: Autographs As Evidence Postal inspectors had assistance from baseball great Willie Mays as part of a 1990 mail fraud investigation into Hit King Marketing Inc. The company was suspected of failure to render goods to customers and forging the autographs of multiple legendary baseball players. Mays gave his real autograph as evidence.
3. BASEB2_220412_010.JPG: During the 1990 investigation, Willie Mays autographed this authentic reprint of a 1952 baseball card. #2019.6622.2, Loan from John Zemblidge
4. BASEB2_220412_013.JPG: Willie Mays submitted his handwriting sample on this postal form. #2019.6622.1, Loan from John Zemblidge
5. BASEB2_220412_016.JPG: The postal inspectors who collected Mays’ signature in Arizona used this registered mail receipt postcard to establish the chain of custody of Mays’ signature when they sent the evidence to their colleagues in New York. #2019.6623.3, Loan from Joseph Byers
6. BASEB2_220412_023.JPG: Consumer Tip! Compare prices of similar signed memorabilia—if something is deeply discounted, it’s more likely to be a fake.
7. BASEB2_220412_026.JPG: Forged Signatures Baseball cards and autographed photographs can be affordable collectibles but can also be highly rare and valuable—traits that scammers seek to exploit. Collectors need to be on the lookout for forged signatures, “doctored” cards that have been altered, faked authentication documents, and counterfeit reproductions. One case handled by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service involved a suspect who had forged autographs onto memorabilia. He then sold the “signed” photographs, postcards, and baseball cards as authentic. The scammer pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2011.
8. BASEB2_220412_029.JPG: This is a small selection of the evidence gathered for this mail fraud case. Loan from the United States Postal Inspection Service
9. BASEB2_220412_043.JPG: Faked Authenticity In 2017, a buyer reported that his newly purchased sports cards failed an authentication check. The subsequent investigation led postal inspectors to search the suspect’s trash where they discovered collectible cards, broken card holders, authentication labels, and counterfeit currency. The suspect had encased low-value reproduction cards in professional-grade sports card holders—marked with counterfeit authenticity labels—to make them look like very rare, authentic cards. The suspect pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering.
10. BASEB2_220412_048.JPG: Staff of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service examined this encased baseball card and dusted it for fingerprints. “Bad holder” was etched into the plastic to mark the fake.
11. BASEB2_220412_053.JPG: Evidence of Convincing Counterfeits A fraudster encased low-value reproduction cards in professional-grade sports card holders -- marked with counterfeit authenticity labels -- to make them look like very rare, authentic cards.
12. BASEB2_220412_062.JPG: The suspect used fake Mickey Mantle cards that did not accurately mimic the colors or signs of wear of the originals—the creases and areas of loss in the originals were simply printed in these bad reproductions.
13. BASEB2_220412_070.JPG: Suspicious Sales Postal inspectors and FBI agents from the Art Crime Team uncovered shill-bidding at Mastro Auctions. In this scheme, some staffers would place bogus bids to drive up sale prices during auctions. The company’s record profits motivated many people to consign items for sale. The inflated prices affected values throughout the specialty market and raised costs for all sports collectors. In 2015, the chief executive officer and three employees pleaded guilty to several criminal counts. Investment Scheme
14. BASEB2_220412_073.JPG: Suspicious Sales Postal inspectors and FBI agents from the Art Crime Team uncovered shill-bidding at Mastro Auctions. In this scheme, some staffers would place bogus bids to drive up sale prices during auctions. The company’s record profits motivated many people to consign items for sale. The inflated prices affected values throughout the specialty market and raised costs for all sports collectors. In 2015, the chief executive officer and three employees pleaded guilty to several criminal counts.
15. BASEB2_220412_075.JPG: Investment Scheme
16. BASEB2_220412_078.JPG: Mastro Auctions published catalogs for buyers to study anticipated auction prices for collectibles and the catalogs became part of the investigative case. The Illinois-based company was also suspected of selling phony and altered memorabilia along with genuine items. Loan from the United States Postal Inspection Service
17. BASEB2_220412_082.JPG: Check the Price! Mastro Auctions published catalogs for buyers to study anticipated auction prices for collectibles and the catalogs became part of the investigative case. The Illinois-based company was also suspected of selling phony and altered memorabilia along with genuine items. Loan from the United States Postal Inspection Service
18. BASEB2_220412_098.JPG: "Babe Ruth" is forged on the cleat's insole.
19. BASEB2_220412_103.JPG: Fake or Real?
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (location): ) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2022_DC_SIPM_BaseballS: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MAI Galleries 2A): Baseball: America's Homerun (3 of 3) -- Stadiums (132 photos from 2022)
- 2022_DC_SIPM_BaseballM: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 7): Baseball: America's Homerun (1 of 3) -- Main Gallery (163 photos from 2022)
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- 2018_DC_SIPM_Postmen_Skies: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 2A): Postmen of the Skies (47 photos from 2018)
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Sort of Related Pages: Still more pages here that have content somewhat related to this one :
- 2012_DC_SIPM_Systems: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (MIA Galleries 4): Systems at Work (48 photos from 2012)
- 2015_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (72 photos from 2015)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (18 photos from 2013)
- 2014_DC_SIPM_Stamp_Salon: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 5): National Stamp Salon (1 photo from 2014)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamps_World: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 1): World of Stamps (27 photos from 2013)
- 2018_DC_SIPM_Stamps_World: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 1): World of Stamps (33 photos from 2018)
- 2014_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (34 photos from 2014)
- 2015_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (135 photos from 2015)
- 2013_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Globe: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 6): Stamps Around the Globe (23 photos from 2013)
- 2021_DC_SIPM_Stamps_Connect: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Gross Gallery 4): Connect with U.S. Stamps (1 photo from 2021)
- ...More (List all 33 pages)...
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Postal Museum] [Display ALL (Smithsonian) Postal Museum photos] [Museums (History)] [Museums (Other)]
2022 photos: This year included major setbacks -- including Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the Supreme Court imposing the evangelical version of sharia law -- but also some steps forward like the results of the midterms. This website had its 20th anniversary in August, 2022. Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Trips this year: (February) a visit to see Dad and Dixie in Asheville, NC with some other members of my family, (July) a trip out west for the return of San Diego Comic-Con, and (October) a long weekend in New York to cover New York Comic-Con. Number of photos taken this year: about 386,000, up 2020 and 2021 levels but still way below pre-pandemic levels.
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