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I was perusing the April 25, 2008 SCD issue and noticed on the full page “Auction Circuit” news page that covers auction news, usually covering Coach’s Corner’s auction previews and/or past results. In miniscule letters at the top of the page it reads “Paid Advertisement”. You’d practically need a magnifying glass to see. Otherwise, the page looks identical to the Auction Circuit news reporting pages which have been a regular SCD feature for years, reporting on the great auctions and the items included – mostly autographed items - coming up, or having been sold in recently conducted auctions, usually by Coach’s Corner, and always in the past presented as editorial.
Is this to be interpreted as a declaration by SCD that all the many years of promoting current/future Coach’s Corner auctions and covering past Coach’s Corner’s auction results in an identical manner (appearing to be editorial news coverage, and naturally giving Coach’s Corner and their offerings great credibility in the eyes of SCD readers) were all paid advertisements presented as editorial? clearly, the current "Auction Circuit" ad was written by an advertiser. How many other "editorials" were written by advertisers and nothing more than ads in disguise?
The headline and text of the April 25 SCD paid Auction Circuit advertisement article about the recent March Coach’s Corner auction reports that “a baseball signed by John F. Kennedy and his wife Jaqueline sold for $3,701” and that “a Beatles ‘Butcher Cover’ LP, signed by all four members and custom framed” sold for $3,518. While those items were sold in the recently closed March auction, along with 4,836 additional lots (as noted in the article, the March auction was “the largest auction ever by the Souderton, Pa, auction house”), the second SCD article at the top of the Auction Circuit page previews current Coach’s Corner auction offerings, including “An original Pablo Picasso India ink prepatory drawing that comes fully certified and appraised at $300,000”. This is Lot #1 in the Coach’s Corner auction closing April 25, which appears on twenty-two pages in the same April 25 cover date issue of SCD. (Checking the auction description, we learn that it is accompanied by a report stating that the piece has “a wholesale value of $300,000 with a retail value of $750,000.” The minimum bid is $700. Other auction lots include items such as Lot #2, a single-signed Joe Jackson baseball, reserve $225, “fully certified by forensic expert Christopher Morales” and Lot #13, a Josh Gibson Autographed baseball, reserve $175, that “comes with a COA from STAT Authentic”. These are just three of 4,848 lots, including many other extremely rare signed items authenticated by STAT and Christopher Morales. The advertisers’ index table of contents on page 74 of the April 25, 2008 SCD lists Coach’s Corner’s advertising pages in the issue as pages 26-49. The Auction Circuit page is page 50.
rudy.
Is this to be interpreted as a declaration by SCD that all the many years of promoting current/future Coach’s Corner auctions and covering past Coach’s Corner’s auction results in an identical manner (appearing to be editorial news coverage, and naturally giving Coach’s Corner and their offerings great credibility in the eyes of SCD readers) were all paid advertisements presented as editorial? clearly, the current "Auction Circuit" ad was written by an advertiser. How many other "editorials" were written by advertisers and nothing more than ads in disguise?
The headline and text of the April 25 SCD paid Auction Circuit advertisement article about the recent March Coach’s Corner auction reports that “a baseball signed by John F. Kennedy and his wife Jaqueline sold for $3,701” and that “a Beatles ‘Butcher Cover’ LP, signed by all four members and custom framed” sold for $3,518. While those items were sold in the recently closed March auction, along with 4,836 additional lots (as noted in the article, the March auction was “the largest auction ever by the Souderton, Pa, auction house”), the second SCD article at the top of the Auction Circuit page previews current Coach’s Corner auction offerings, including “An original Pablo Picasso India ink prepatory drawing that comes fully certified and appraised at $300,000”. This is Lot #1 in the Coach’s Corner auction closing April 25, which appears on twenty-two pages in the same April 25 cover date issue of SCD. (Checking the auction description, we learn that it is accompanied by a report stating that the piece has “a wholesale value of $300,000 with a retail value of $750,000.” The minimum bid is $700. Other auction lots include items such as Lot #2, a single-signed Joe Jackson baseball, reserve $225, “fully certified by forensic expert Christopher Morales” and Lot #13, a Josh Gibson Autographed baseball, reserve $175, that “comes with a COA from STAT Authentic”. These are just three of 4,848 lots, including many other extremely rare signed items authenticated by STAT and Christopher Morales. The advertisers’ index table of contents on page 74 of the April 25, 2008 SCD lists Coach’s Corner’s advertising pages in the issue as pages 26-49. The Auction Circuit page is page 50.
rudy.
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