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Fake Perino
Papers
( This information has
been provided by the AACA in which they courteously agreed to let me share it
here to help better inform all of us. )
If you have in your
relic collection any certificates of authenticity
issued by Greg Perino, which you did not apply for
yourself, please view pictures of fraudulent embossed
seals that are being used now to make a mockery
of Mr. Perino’s work over the years, purely for
great monetary gain by a few sellers.
Many collectors will
be able to see the differences in the fake embossed seals,
and Perino has only ever used one seal in his
career- that is the valid seal. All others are
counterfeit.
Mr.
Perino was one of the pioneers of authentication, and these counterfeit
papers are not only fraud against collectors, but also a slap
in the face of this great archaeologist. Check your relics
and papers, or have them reviewed by your favorite
authenticator. If you have any additional questions
you can contact:
fraudalert@theaaca.com
WE NEED TO SHUT DOWN THIS
FRAUD!!!
(click to enlarge seals)
Below are
more details on this fraud.
The Fraud Amongst Us
By Cliff Jackson, AACA Task Force
When
archaeologist Gregory Perino first helped his close collector friends by
weeding out fakes from their collections, he never dreamed of the trouble that
would grow from it. This gentle intelligent man who tends his garden and gives
vegetables to friends has become, through his fame as a popular publishing
archaeologist and commercial relic authenticator, the victim of fraud and
forgery.
The first Perino papers from the mid-1980s were
typed on his old typewriter and hand-signed. To close friends, he sometimes
simply wrote, “You don’t know what you’re buying….”, and then he would explain
why he said that. Those friends convinced Mr. Perino of the need for a
commercial authentication service from an expert with his fine career
credentials. Within a few years, Perino authentication and typology papers were
sought after, and soon, the first faked papers appeared. These were simply
copies of his paper, with a forged signature. Some were so crudely done as to
be comical, but many people had never seen any Perino papers before, so quickly
the first “paper fraud” victims were born.
To combat the faked papers, Greg Perino began taking
certain measures that he believed would stop them. He began sealing the outline
drawings onto the paper. He got his friend Ray Fraser to make him an embossing
seal with his signature on it. This is the very same seal used to make the
authentic embossment featured in the AACA Fraud Alert on the AACA website. This
seal has been proved to have been used on every single embossed authentication
that Greg Perino has done since 1989.
Gradually, as the original Perino seal faded as the
softer counter plate wore down, and the embossments got lighter. Then, after
the counter plate was renewed in late 1999 (but the brass signature remained
untouched), the embossment got heavier. Before the seal was renewed, however,
Ray Fraser made Mr. Perino a second seal from the original signature.
The second seal was deeper than the first, so much so
that it cut through the few test runs that Greg Perino ran, and he decided NOT
to use it on his papers. He placed it into a drawer, where it has remained
until recently when it was returned to Ray Fraser for disposal. According to
Mr. Perino, he NEVER used the second seal on a paper.
By 1995, there were fraudulent Perino papers with
fake embossments, as well as erased and altered papers on the relic market. The
problem was so bad that Mr. Perino requested that the Genuine Indian Relic
Society publish this warning about those fake papers in Issue #1, 1997 of
Prehistoric American journal:
“Authenticity Certificates are being Forged- Fraudulent artifacts are
nothing new. Of all the so-called G-10s on the marketplace, 90% are fakes.
That’s why the sudden interest and requests for “papers”. Based on that, it’s
not unexpected that the crooks now forge “papers” to sell their fakes. Mr. Greg
Perino, who has saved thousands, millions (of dollars), has seen his
certificates duplicated and forged in recent months. I have personally seen
some of these forgeries myself. Seems they are coming from Kentucky and Ohio for
the most part. Plus I have seen some forgeries of others, not quite as
prominent. How do they do it? Simple, with a computer and a scanner, the crooks
insert their obvious fake and use the name of an unknown person out of the area.
Is this something new? Hardly, some unscrupulous dealers give guarantees on
obvious frauds all the time. Do be cautious.” (From Prehistoric American, #1,
1997, Col. John Berner, Editor)
This warning was seven years ago, and the problem
has only gotten worse since that time. More fakes have been made, and more
papers made to suit the crooks. Many nationwide shows have featured these relics
and papers-as AUTHENTIC, awaiting a willing buyer!
Worldwide into our new
millennium, collecting ancient
relics is at an all-time high in popularity mainly due to the Internet and eBay
auctions. There is a larger variety and distribution of relics both modern and
old available to new collectors. Many new collectors do not have the skills or
knowledge to discern old from ancient, so they use authentication services.
There are now over 40 different authenticators providing their opinions on
relics, using a variety of both highly effective and blatantly non-effective
criteria. Choosing an authenticator is almost as important as the right choice
of artifacts and dealers, and it is a task best accomplished after considerable
research, thought, and discussion.
The Granddaddy of Authentication, Greg Perino, at 90
years old, is still producing his opinions for his customers. Several years
back Mr. Perino announced that he would not be taking on new customers, but he
continues to this day to review artifacts for his customers. Unfortunately his
good work for collectors over the years has been badly disfigured by the
unscrupulous sellers that have flooded the market with fraudulent authentication
papers on high dollar relics, most notably on many perfect and questionable
Clovis and Cumberland points from the Midwest
The AACA Fraud Alert was issued to make all
collectors aware of the counterfeit papers on the market. It features high
resolution scans of the original, genuine embossment and of several counterfeit
embossments that have been found on a large number of relics.
Gregory Perino has been involved in this investigation
and the identification of these frauds, and is concerned for those collectors
that own them. Collectors can compare these seals with their own papers and
decide for themselves what action to take. Rest assured that if the Perino seal
is not identical to the genuine seal as pictured, further investigation is
needed. Collectors are urged to check their papers and if any difference is
seen, check with the collector that is named on the paper to see if they
actually owned the piece, or have the paper and relic examined by an expert.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Buy the rock, not the
paper”. This is a maxim that all collectors should follow, through education,
study, and comparison of whatever they collect. Then, if a collector needs a
Gregory Perino authentication paper as assurance that the rock is good, he needs
to make sure that the relic and the paper are the “real Perino” and did not come
from the fraud amongst us.
References:
Berner,
Col. John F., Editor, Prehistoric American, Number 1, 1997
Published by
the Genuine Indian Relic Society, Inc.
Fraser, Raymond, Personal
communications
Perino,
Gregory, Personal communications
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