Blog Archive

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Buyer Beware When Collecting Wright Brother Items

This post has been re-written and updated as of July 2025. Refer to the following link:

Buyer Beware When Collecting Wright Brother Items- Revised 

 

 

 

In a previous post, I discussed Collecting historical items associated with the Wright Brothers. The post began with a number of suggestions, with the first two appearing below.

  1. Know your subject. The more knowledgeable you are of the history of the Wright Brothers, the less chance you'll be fooled by misrepresented items, and the greater your ability to identify an item of historical significance.
  2. Be aware that sellers don't always know their subject. They may unknowingly describe an item inaccurately.  I've lost count the number of pictures or postcards I've seen for sale on E-bay identified incorrectly by the seller as depicting a Wright aeroplane, or one of the Wright brothers.
  3. Unfortunately, a third suggestion is offered- Know that there are also sellers with full knowledge they are selling forgeries. Further, and this is really unfortunate, sellers in this category can have a 100% positive feedback rating, and in fact, usually do have a 100% positive feedback rating, so don't use feedback rating as a guarantee of authenticity of products. Please, beware of the buy-it-now or best offer low price "deals", with either a lack of certificate of authenticity (COA), or a COA not worth the paper it is printed on. Don't read the statement "Guaranteed to pass any Authentication Service, or we will issue a full refund", and feel confident this is a genuine item. Any dealer can make that guarantee, and nine out of ten sales, the buyer will never send the item in for verification. 
  4. I'll add one more suggestion. Know the value. Check my post "Value of Historical Items associated with the Wright Brothers". If you find items offered at half the price of what these items normally would sell, you likely have not found a bargain.
 
 
London Herald Friday 18th, December 1903. I've seen this modern print offered on E-bay mistakenly identified by the seller as an original 1903 document. How the London Herald obtained the Wright's first flight photo before it had even been developed by the Wright's from the glass plate negative, taken just the day before, must have involved time travel. The Wright's wouldn't develop this photo until after returning to Dayton, and the photo was not initially shared with the public as it would have revealed construction details of the Flyer to competitors. This obvious modern "reproduction" print is readily available from multiple sales sources as a "re-print", but is a total fabrication as this December 18th 1903 issue never existing as pictured.

 
As I routinely check E-bay, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, and other sites for Wright Brother related items for sale, I am constantly coming across material that is misidentified or questionable. By constantly, I mean, all the time, every time I check, every day. And I don't mean one or two examples, but rather dozens of examples on any given day. Over just the past five years, 2021 through 2025, framed "signatures" of Wilbur and Orville Wright have been offered by auction accompanied with a COA, and have sold for as little as a few hundred dollars, to thousands of dollars. These items would be useful for placing under a cat box to keep the floor clean.
 
***Warning***
LiveAuctioneers site has had an increase in the number of Wilbur and Orville Wright "signed" postcards and photos. The items are listed with bids beginning at $1, and tend to sell for perhaps 10% of the dealer's listed estimated value. All are provided with COA's. None of these items would ever pass certification by JSA, PSA/DNA, or Beckett. 

COA's are good, but they need to be from a highly respected authority such as those listed under E-bay's recommended COA list; more on this later.

I am in the habit of contacting sellers with errors in their listings and providing what I believe to be the correct information concerning the item, and often receive a kind response. Occasionally however, my comments are ignored, or rejected as inaccurate. It is disheartening when the item sells, for I know two things have occurred. First, that the buyer has unknowingly paid too much for an incorrectly identified item, and second, that this buyer will then continue the false history out of ignorance as he shows the item to friends, and eventually sells or passes the item on years later. I am not in the habit of contacting sellers that obviously are knowingly selling forgeries, as nothing is accomplished by doing so. 

Some of the commonly misidentified material I've observed:
  • Photo of a bi-plane incorrectly identified as a Wright Brothers airplane. This occurs often. Many sellers simply identify a photo of any bi-plane as "a Wright Brother style of airplane". 
  • Photo of a bi-plane with two men standing in front of it, and misidentified as Wilbur and Orville Wright. And if the bi-plane just happens to actually be a Wright model, then of course any two men standing near by must be Wilbur and Orville, right?? And if one has a mustache, or one is wearing a derby, then who else could the men possibly be? (Other than 10,000 other individuals).
  • Postcards, photos, or envelopes with questionable Orville or Wilbur Wright signatures. I have seen so many of these, I'd estimate at least 50% of all the signed postcards, photos, or envelopes offered are forged. Beware of signatures on removed autograph book pages, or on scraps of paper or cards. How do you determine if they are genuine?
  • Period press photos with forged Orville Wright signature. In what circumstance would a press photo be removed from the archives of a newspaper and brought to Orville Wright for his signature? I had not seen these listed prior to 2019. How interesting that suddenly many "signed" press photos have come to the market (sarcasm intended). And not a one of them authenticated by a trusted Authentication service.
  • Books signed by O. Wright, or Orville Wright, where the book has no connection with aviation, and no connection with Dayton Ohio, yet it is assumed that this Orville Wright is the Orville of the Wright Brothers. Orville Wright was a common name! Even though the signature doesn't match the handwriting of the aviator Orville, people will throw money at these offers thinking they obtained a bargain.
  • Historically inaccurate, impossible, or highly unlikely claims made concerning an item supposedly associated with the Wright Brothers. 
  • Photo of bike shop and workers, which of course then must be Wilbur and Orville Wright and their brother Lloyd (I am not making this up), because again, who else could they possibly be? (Other than 10,000 other bike shops and work crew of the period).
The following are examples of items I've seen offered:

Photograph with fake Orville Wright signature- This item was simply offered as a photo of a Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver Bi-plane. No mention was made of the Orville Wright signature, and the buy-it-now price was minimal. The seller obviously recognized the signature as faked, and so simply ignored it. I purchased this item for the sole purpose of including it in this post as an example of a forged signature. This is a really bad forged signature. If it isn't incredibly obvious to the reader to be a forged signature, then don't buy signed aviation items! Not only is the signature bad, the choice of photo is bad. This is a Curtiss bi-plane, and Orville Wright would never have signed a Curtiss bi-plane photo.

Forged Orville Wright signature

Unfortunately, where the above item is easily identified as forged, other forged items offered for sale are not so easily recognized. A photo of a bi-plane was offered at auction with what appeared to be Orville and Wilbur Wright's signatures. The photo had not been authenticated by a third-party "expert". The image of the bi-plane was small and the resolution was not sufficient to identify the model of the aeroplane, however, it did not appear to be a Wright model. The Wright Brothers would not have signed a patent infringing competitor's bi-plane photo. The placement of the signatures of Orville and Wilbur was odd, and the signatures did not appear to be correct. The event was not identified; the date of the photo was unknown; there was no provenance what-so-ever. Yet, the photo sold for over $8000.
It is not difficult to forge the Wright's names onto an old photograph, their signatures are not that complicated. Keep in mind that just because the item is a genuine photograph of the time period, doesn't mean that the signature's are genuine.

Signatures of the Wright Brothers on envelopes, postcards, and press photos-
Beware of postcards, press photos, and anniversary first flight covers. If a 1928 25th anniversary of the 1903 flight cover (envelope) with Orville Wright's signature across the top is offered for sale, does the reader know how to distinguish a genuine signature from a forged signature? There are plenty of genuine 1928 25th anniversary covers that are not signed by Orville Wright. How difficult would it be to add a forged signature? When the item is being offered at a low buy-it-now price, or best offer, be suspicious. And when the same seller has a new item like this week after week after week, be very suspicious.(1) I watched a sale with two bidders competing for a postcard supposedly signed by Orville and Wilbur Wright. The item was obviously forged, was not authenticated, and sold for under $550. A genuine dual signed postcard by the Brothers would normally sell for well over $5000. Another item was sold with both Orville's and Wilbur's signatures forged on a first flight photograph. This item sold for $1300, with 5 bidders competing for this obvious fake which included a COA not worth the paper it is printed on (The COA was not from the E-bay recommended list).  This is so frustrating, as I watch these fakes sell week after week. 
  • Do not compare the signature with those on other covers or postcards as you will likely be comparing to another forged signature. Tens of dozens of forged Orville Wright covers and postcards all with the same forged OW signature have sold over the past several years and are continuing to sell.(5)
  • A genuine signed Orville Wright postcard or cover sell in the range of $800 to $1200 or higher. When offered, these are often encased, certified by PSA/DNA, JSA or other reputable certifying company. Forged covers are at times being offered in this price range, without any item description or certification; high price does not imply the item is genuine.
  • Forged Orville Wright postcards or covers are most often offered at a low buy it now price, with "make offer" accepted. These items are generally not certified. Unfortunately, these items are at times resold by the purchaser at a higher price.
  • Beware of statements such as "Genuine signature. Item is not a reproduction or copy." All this really states is the signature is a genuine signature, (but by whom?), and that the cover or postcard is a genuine item from that time period in lieu of a modern print. A "genuine signature" simply means the signature is written in ink in lieu of a photocopy or print of a signature- genuinely written in ink by the forger. I have also seen sellers "guarantee" the signed item, by offering a refund if a third party determines the signature is forged. Don't let this sway you into thinking the item likely is the real thing. Anyone can make that guarantee, and so what if one out of five buyers returns the item. It will just be re-offered a month later to some other unsuspecting collector.
  • A COA (Certificate of Authenticity) is only as good at the authentication company offering the services. E-bay provides a list of recommended authentication services on their policies pages. Further, E-bay provides a list of COA's (nearly two dozen) that are not allowed on their Autographed items policy page.  Click on "Read Our Full Policy", and then click on "Certificates of Authenticity" to get to the disallowed list of COA's. Despite the policy, sellers continue to list forged items using COA's  from the banned COA list. I have seen numerous obviously forged signed items for sale which included a COA not listed among the recommended authentication services. Often, the seller will simply indicate that a COA will be included, without even identifying the COA company. Please, check the E-bay list of recommended authentication services. A genuine Orville Wright signature is valued at more than $199 or best offer. I have record of a sketch of Wilbur and Orville with their "signatures" recently selling for $299, with one bidder. The artwork was bad, and the "signatures" were worse. Yet, the item came with a COA. A genuinely signed item by both brothers would sell for thousands of dollars, not for $299. This item, and many others are being offered with COA's that date back to the 1990's. Every item, and dozens and dozens were listed, were all forged, yet all offered with the same COA. The COA does not appear on the E-bay banned list, and does not appear in the FBI list, so the absence of the COA from these lists does not guarantee they are legitimate. (To emphasize this point, the E-bay banned list could easily be doubled or tripled in length, so don't make the mistake that if the COA is not included in the banned list, they're likely reliable.)  I contacted E-bay concerning a seller offering a number of "signed" items with banned COA, and E-bay did nothing about it. The seller continued to sell these items. A Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright set of "signatures" on a cut sheet of paper sold by this seller for $299 with a banned COA. Three guesses, two don't count, if this item was the real McCoy. Having said this about my failure to obtain action from E-bay directly, I have been successful in other ways to remove these sellers with E-bay's assistance. Bottom line, it is the Buyer's responsibility to check the acceptable COA list; in many cases E-bay is not going to do this for you.
  • Avoid the 25th anniversary of the first airplane flight Capt. B. B. Lipsner covers with Orville Wright's "signature". I have seen a great number of these covers offered, and the majority are forged. These covers originally were prepared and signed by Lipsner. His name is printed on the cover, with the title "The first superintendent to blaze the air mail trail for the U.S. Post Office Department in 1918." He signed his name above his printed name. A forger has taken dozens of these period envelopes and signed Orville's name angled across the center. Of several dozen of these offered over the past few years, I've seen perhaps three of which Orville's signature appeared as possibly correct, and these were envelopes with hand written addresses to Lipsner's family. (2)
Genuine B.B. Lipsner 1928 cover. These were produced and signed by Lipsner. A forger can very easily take this cover above and add  Orville Wright's name to it, and offer it for sale.
 
Signatures of the Wright Brothers on scraps of paper- 
I witnessed a sale of an item claimed by the seller to be from an estate sale, and removed from the pages of an autograph book.
An obviously forged item with both fake Wilbur and Orville signatures received many bids. It was indicated to come with an authenticator's COA. A quick search on-line came up with some very negative comments from other collectors concerning the certifying company. Unfortunately, the item sold, and one more collector looking for a bargain has purchased a forged item. Worse, I suspect the item was simply purchased by another "dealer" with the intention to later relist the item at a higher price. A genuine dual signature of both brothers Wilbur and Orville would not sell for under $300 as this one did.

.,
When purchasing checks attributed to the Wright Brothers, in addition to being aware the signature may be in the hand of their brother Lorin Wright, be also aware the signature may be an intentional forgery. I had not witnessed the offer of a forged check, but one sold recently by auction dated June 15, 1924 with a really bad forged Orville Wright signature. It appears an old check was modified to add Orville's name. The main body of the check is not in Orville's or his secretary's hand (Mabel Beck), and the check is from a Dayton bank in which the Wright's had no checking account! Yet multiple bidders took the price to over $1000, overpaying even if the check had been genuine! Additionally, the named COA for this item is first on the list of E-bay's banned COA list. 

I'm amazed at times at the arrogance of some dealers, as a seller on E-bay was offering the exact same dated numbered Orville Wright check in two separate offers. One was obviously a reproduction, as both couldn't be original. I alerted the seller that he was offering a reproduction as an original check, and my comment was ignored. The reproduction check had mistakenly been authenticated and came with a COA, but anyone with common sense knows that two identical checks can not both be original. The process of certification is not a perfect art, and mistakes are occasionally made by even the best Certification companies. After a number of months, the seller finally deleted the offer to sell this reproduction check, asking price of $1500. But not until the original Certification company was able to convince the seller to do so.

Orville and Wilbur Wright checks should be from The Winters National Bank (& Trust Co.), The City National Bank (and Trust Company), The Union Trust, or the Fourth National Bank, and Farmers and Merchants Bank, all from Dayton Ohio. Again, know the history before making the purchase. 

For more on Wright Brother checks, including examples of non-genuine Wright Brother checks, see my post





Orville and Charlie Taylor at Ft. Myer- This item was offered at auction on E-bay, with starting bid at $1800, with sellers estimate at $2500 to $3500. The photo was initially identified as Orville and Wilbur Wright at Simms Station. I contacted the seller with the information that this was in fact Orville Wright and Charlie Taylor at Ft. Myer. They thanked me, and indicated that someone else had also just sent them this correct identification. What threw them initially was that this press photo had a stamp on the back with the names Orville and Wilbur Wright. I have found that press photos occasionally have incorrect identification written on the back side as was in this case. A neat photo. The photo was eventually withdrawn.
Photo of Charlie Taylor and Orville Wright at Ft Myer, 1909.

Compare the above photo to two photos below as shown on page 188 of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum "The Wright Brothers and the invention of the aerial age" by Tom Crouch and Peter Jakab, 2003.

This picture is identified as "Wilbur greets old friend Charlie Taylor" at Fort Myer, 1909. Compare Charlie here to the picture above, and notice he is holding his jacket in the same arm when facing Orville. The photos were likely taken just minutes apart.

This photo is identified as at Ft. Myer, 1909, pg 188 of "The Wright Brothers" Crouch & Jakab book. Compare the hangar doors on the ground, ground features, and tree line in background to the picture above identified as at Simms Station. These photos were clearly taken at the same location, Ft. Myer.

I have seen numerous press photos with the wrong identification written on the back of the photo. Again, from the sellers description, it's not that they are trying to be deceptive, its just that they don't know what they have. Why would they doubt the information? I purchased the photo below identified as of the Langely Aerodrome, but as my knowledge in this area increased, I realized that this was in fact a photo of Henri Fabre in 1910. The confusion is understandable, as there are some similarities to this design and the Langely machine after Glen Curtiss altered it by adding pontoons such that it could be launched from the water surface in 1914.

This is a press photo of Henri Fabre incorrectly identified as the Langley Aeroplane. Henri Fabre is the inventor of the first seaplane to fly, March 28, 1910. 

Back side of the above picture of Henri Fabre. This press photo is identified as the Langley Aeroplane, and mentions " Langley, Samuel P. (1834-1906) US physicist, inventor, aeronautics pioneer; built early heavier-than-air craft" This photo has nothing to do with Samuel Langley or the Langley Aerodrome, and likely appeared in a number of newspaper articles incorrectly identifying it as such.


This next press photo is of Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk in 1911, where Orville conducted gliding experiments from October 10th through October 30th. Lorin Wright and nephew Horace joined him, as did Alexander Ogilvie. On October 24th, Orville soared for 9 minutes, 45 seconds, setting a world record that would stand for 10 years. Wilbur did not attend this visit to Kitty Hawk, yet he is identified as being the man standing next to Orville in the next press photo.(4)


Press photo incorrectly identifying man next to Orville Wright as Wilbur Wright. "This photograph from an original negative shows Orville Wright, left, with the late Wilbur Wright. Studying air conditions at Kitty Hawk, N.C." This photo is from October 1911 when Orville was experimenting with a motor-less glider. Wilbur Wright was not present.

Group Photograph, October 1911, Kitty Hawk N.C. courtesy of Wright State University MS-1 Wright Brothers Photograph Collection. "Seated, L to R, Horace Wright, Orville Wright, and Alexander Ogilvie. Standing, L to R, Lorin Wright, Van Ness Harwood, not identified, Arnold Krockman, not identified, and John Mitchell." Likely the man in the previous press photo adjacent to Orville Wright is Van Ness Harwood.




Another press photo shown here of Orville Wright in October of 1911 at Kitty Hawk performing gliding experiments. This photo is misidentified as of Orville Wright's 1903 flight.


Rear of photo above. This 1911 photo was printed in this news article in December of 1934 as showing Orville Wright's first flight from 1903. The paper reported "In 1903, Orville Wright...took off in this forerunner of the modern airplane on one of the first successful flights in a heavier-than-air craft. The flight pictured here was historic and caused wide comment, much of it skeptical."



It is unfortunate that there is such a vast amount of forged Wright Brother collectables on the market. My suggestion would be to avoid all signed postcards, envelopes, paper scraps, and photos unless they are accompanied by a COA from one of the recommended authentication services. Otherwise, I'd estimate your chances of buying a forgery are in the 80% range.
Also unfortunate, is that so many of these forgeries can be identified as fake in seconds. I can spot most immediately. I could explain in detail how this is possible, but that information in the forger's hand would simply be a tool for him or her to improve their "craft".(6)


In Summary-
Know your history, and understand that just because an item is labeled or certified, doesn't guarantee the information is correct.

Additional sources-
The FBI Operation Bullpen


Notes-
1. (2/3/18) Forged Orville and Wilbur Wright signatures are common place and I see them offered for sale every day. And they sell. And they are often then relisted and resold at a higher price. I have observed that one forger is responsible for a vast number of fake Orville Wright signed items. This is evident in that when these items are compared, the signature is noticeably in the same hand, but unfortunately, not Orville's hand. I was recently asked by a potential buyer to offer an opinion on one of these forged Orville Wright items. The seller had listed this item for $3000, and was under the belief that the item was genuine. This seller had a dozen or so other Wright Brother items for sale, all genuine, such that I'm convinced this seller was innocently offering an item he thought was genuine. He agreed to send the item to PSA/DNA for certification. PSA/DNA determined the item was not genuine. The sale listing was immediately removed from E-bay. A good lesson that even reputable dealers can be duped.

2. (2/3/18) As I find time, I hope to research the B.B. Lipsner covers and provide more information. These were prepared and signed by Lipsner. There is no indication that these were produced with the intention for Orville Wright to sign them. Lipsner's name is printed on these envelopes, and he signed his name above his printed name. There is no such similar arrangement for Orville. His name is not printed, but simply listed as "Wright Brothers", one section of two columns with the names of 19 other aviation notables. The back side of the envelope is stamped "This is to certify as a member and guest of the International Civil Aeronautics Conference, called by President Calvin Coolidge, to mark the first quarter century of human flight; I accompanied Hon. Orville Wright from Washington, D.C. to Kill Devil Hill, N.C.. On the entire pilgrimage I carried this commemorative cover and finally mailed it personally at the place and on the date as postmarked" (Signed) B. B. Lipsner. No where is it mentioned that Orville Wright also signed the cover.

4.  (5/3/19) Those accompanying Orville as recorded in Wilbur & Orville Wright  A Reissue of A Chronology Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Orville Wright August 19, 1871- by Arthur George Renstrom. Also confirmed from Milton Wright diaries, October 1911, and WSU Core Scholar photos.

5. (12/23/19) A majority of the forged signatures are easily identifiable if you know what to look for. Unfortunately many collectors don't know what to look for, and these fakes continue to sell.



Copyright 2021-Getting the Story Wright
 
 


Posted by at 7 comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)