Would you sell to Frank & Mike?

I enjoy the American Pickers series because I learn a lot about parts. Parts of bicycles, parts of cars, parts of things I usually don't handle; physically, that is. I do enjoy getting dirty now and then, but, Mike and Frank really dig in. Like "Dirty Jobs," I like to watch. Being an unbiased appraiser, it is hard for me to not holler at the TV: "Ask for more!" or "Take the money and run!"

Best Selling eBay Items

I am being twittered by: See the Best Selling eBay Items of the last 90 days. If one ever needed a quick education on "stuff" that sells on eBay, this may be it. I recommend you visit their site.

OR..... you can visit our Harding Township (Morristown) gallery for a free "PRE-SALE ESTIMATE." There's an appraiser on duty each Friday. You can drop-in between 10 and 5, or call for a specific appointment time or to make sure we're available when you are.

The sculpture featured in the photo above is by local artist, Peter Allen. It is even cooler in person, so come by and see how it looks in our garden. It could look good in your garden, too!

I hope you don't have one of these

I am often asked to appraise Dalis, Chagalls, Miros, Remingtons and the like.

Dangerous and sad territory for these clients as most are fakes.

They are beautifully framed and reproduced and the clients paid great sums

at "estate" auctions and cruise auctions.

I hate being the bearer of bad news.

Woman sentenced to 7 years for auctioning fake art

(AP) – 1 day ago

LOS ANGELES — A woman who sold $20 million in phony artwork she claimed was by Picasso, Dali and Chagall to thousands of people through a semiweekly televised auction has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Kristine Eubanks, 52, of La Canada Flintridge pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy and tax evasion and was sentenced Monday.

She and her husband, Gerald Sullivan, conducted an art auction show twice a week on DirecTV and The Dish Network from 2002 to 2006.

The couple ran Fine Art Treasures Gallery, which sold fake and forged lithographs, prints and paintings purportedly found at estate liquidations around the world to more than 10,000 victims, U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

They bought the paintings from suppliers and sometimes signed the forgeries and prints with the artists' names, prosecutors said.

Eubanks forged "certificates of authenticity" for some pieces and provided fake appraisals for jewelry pieces, Mrozek said.

Also, the couple drove up sale prices by having fake bids announced on-air, he said.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feess said their scheme was "audacious in its scope" and blatantly illegal.

Sullivan will be sentenced in May after earlier pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. He faces a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.