Exciting CPA
Steve Clark
I was laid up with back surgery quite a few years ago and read voraciously to pass the time. The passion for reading turned into a passion for collecting. Then, the collecting turned into a business groomed for when I retire from the CPA life (if ever).
Since most of my time is spent managing my CPA practice, my daughter manages the shop which specializes in rare and unusual books, prints and maps, primarily dealing with territorial, and pre-territorial Arizona.
My personal collecting interest is in items pertaining to the Apache wars. As such, I had been on a deliberate pursuit of a signed Geronimo cabinet card (an antique photograph mounted on a stiff card). I had come close to obtaining one a couple of times, but always seemed to come up short.
I was on a book buying trip a few years ago and visited the shop of a very respected dealer. As I scanned the case of his rarer items, there it was, a cabinet card of Geronimo, boldly signed in pencil across the face of the card, G E R O N I M O. My heart began racing. This was too good to be true!
I have heard from various sources that Geronimo would sign his name by turning an item sideways and write his name vertically. The effect was a very crude, child-like signature. I had seen other Geronimo signatures, and this looked authentic.
My next fear was that I would not be able to afford it. They had risen in price significantly over the past few years. I timidly asked what he wanted for the photograph. When he stated the price, I was elated! I finally had found what I had sought for years.
I asked him to put it aside while I browsed his shop, and told him I would pay for it when I paid for any other books I might find. I accumulated a pile of books and brought them to the counter. The dealer then went to retrieve the Geronimo item from his desk. When he placed it on the counter, something didn’t look quite right. THE SIGNATURE WAS GONE!! “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SIGNATURE?,” I asked.
As startled as I, he said, “I DON’T KNOW! My wife has been in the shop helping me, let me ask her!” He said, “Honey, what happened to the signature on the face of this Geronimo photograph?”
Her face turned instantly ashen. She was visibly shaken as she said. “OH! I’M SO SORRY! The writing was so bad, I though some child had written on the photograph. I ERASED IT TO IMPROVE THE APPEARANCE OF THE PICTURE!”
I was absolutely stunned. I stood speechless. I have never experienced such a sudden and spontaneous change of emotion in my life. One moment I was ecstatic. The next moment I was utterly despondent.
As I gathered my composure, I finally said, “Well, It’s obviously not worth now what it was. What will you take for it?” They withdrew to huddle and came back with a price about half what they had originally been asking. Realizing that it was still an irresistible bargain, I said I would take it.
Subsequently, the Antique Road Show came to
The photographic expert asked what I had and I proudly said, “A signed Geronimo cabinet card!” She examined it and said “We’ll it’s definitely an authentic Geronimo cabinet card, but what makes you think it’s signed?”
I told her to hold it so you could see the light reflected off the surface. The impression from the pencil autograph was still visible. She saw it and exclaimed, “Oh, my God! You have to tell me how this happened.” She called over one of her associates, who quickly vouched for the authenticity of the signature. I told them my sad story.
She said she wished I had come earlier in the day. They would have featured the card and my story, but they had already completed their filming. She said that card, as is, was worth $2,500 - $3,000. The card with signature would be worth $5,000 - $6,000.
Who said collecting rare books isn’t exciting stuff?
Steve Clark is the managing shareholder of S.E. Clark & Company, PC, in
