The Suit Magazine

One of those passports ended up traveling – quite likely in the possession of one of those expatriated Hungarians – to the US, where it eventually landed at the offices of Bobby Livingston. In April 2009, his company auctioned the document in April 2009, and the valuable memento was sold to a happy collector for $13,700.

Rare historical documents like the Wallenberg passports make history come alive, connecting collectors with the past and shedding new light on great historical events. That’s why Livingston, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at RR Auction, is so passionate about his work.

Based in Amherst, New Hampshire, RR is a mid-sized auction house that, each year, registers up to $10 million in sales of historical documents and autographs, and operates an online auction system that attracts 6,000 visitors each week.

The business started out in 1980, Livingston recalls, “as a one-man, cut-and-paste operation on a typewriter.” RR Auction’s founder and current owner, Bob Eaton, had borrowed money from his grandmother to purchase a collection of artifacts from a local collector. Incidentally, that lot included a 1903 World Series program, which Eaton still owns; today, that program is worth over $100,000.

Since that lucky first acquisition, Eaton’s business has enjoyed steady growth and an excellent reputation among collectors. That’s because the small company’s employees truly care about their work; they’re excited about the history and authenticity of all the artifacts featured in their catalog.
“We get to read famous dead people’s letters,” jokes Livingston. He’s excited about an upcoming project; RR will auction off a collection of objects from NASA space missions. “This is fun stuff to have, collect, and touch,” Livingston adds, further noting that RR’s clients will appreciate the items because NASA’s space program was “a crowning achievement of humanity, and people who witnessed that find it to be meaningful.”

But the auction house business is not without the risk of loss, mostly due to forgeries and naive investments. Counterfeit artifacts are everywhere, warns Livingston. “If you walk into a shopping mall and see a wall covered in signed Beatles or Led Zeppelin albums, be very skeptical,” he warns, duly noting that “Maintaining an inventory of authentic, rare signed Beatles’ albums is next to impossible.”

In order to prevent forgeries from slipping into their catalog and ensuring that their clients’ money is well-spent, RR Auction regularly engages the services of expert third-party authenticators, like Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a large public corporation. Because PSA has no financial interest in the sale of the items it evaluates, its authentication is trustworthy. RR Auction regularly enlists the assistance of PSA and similar companies so that customers can be assured of an item’s authenticity.

“Customers need to buy from a reputable dealer,” says Livingston. He supports the use of third-party verification so that customers can feel secure. “We want to be double and triple sure!” That dedication to accuracy keeps the clients coming back.

But there’s another advantage to efforts in verification – legitimized pieces sell for much more. The same item can go for two vastly different sums, depending on whether or not it has been thoroughly examined and verified. For example, an autographed photograph of Albert Einstein once sold for $6,000 at an auction without an independent authentication process.  Six weeks later, RR Auctions sold it for $75,000 – after the photo had been expertly scrutinized by outside parties and the auction house had translated a message Einstein had written on it.
“You can turn a quick profit by [relying on] people with specialized knowledge; we just pay them for their expert opinion,” explains Livingston.

Since the increased sales price on auction day exceeds the cost of authentication, this practice is a very smart business move – one of many reasons RR Auction’s customers are loyal to the company.
    The company’s website (www.rrauction.com) functions as an extension of itsNew Hampshireauction house. On it, customers can peruse pages and pages of rare autographs, historical mementos, and authentic official documents. Whether in person or via the internet, collectors can be sure that RR Auction’s items are the real deal.
Meanwhile, Bob Eaton is always looking for new pieces to pass on – artifacts like the Wallenberg passports and souvenirs from the space race are about more than just turning a profit. Such objects serve as links to the past, and collectors and auctioneers alike do share in the excitement of handling a genuine piece of history.

RRAuction Official Time: Jan 1 2011 11:50:42 AM
Thirty Minute Rule Begins: The Evening of January 12th at 7 PM ET

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