Hi, I saw and read with great interest your posts on the Titanic board about the Gracie signed book- Several months ago I paid $1050.00 for a blank postal card signed by Capt. Smith from the same seller. (not the same one you pictured in the posts) I of course asked all sorts of questions while the auction was still running- I basically got the same types of replies as you did- How Frank is a huge Titanic expert, has all these original items, etc etc. The signature I bought from him has written with a typewriter underneath "November 22, 1892- Master S.S. Britannic"- This does check out- but it of course is not the same Britannic that sank in WWI.
When I showed it to a dealer friend of mine, he clued me in that the postal card itself was first manufactured in 1911- which made me wonder about the date on the front. Frank said that the date probably meant something to the original owner- maybe they were on the Britannic on that day?- Then like you, he sent me a scan of an original document signed my Smith to re-assure me of the authenticity.
My dealer friend knows Helen Sanders, who with her late husband authored the Sanders Autograph Price Guide books you may have heard of- I'm still waiting to hear back from her- I really want her to take a look at it for me. I hate to be skeptical about something like this (Cause damn- it feels pretty good to say that you have a signature of the Titanic's Captain) but some of the other historical signatures hes sold just dont look right. I'm no expert (I'm just a "kid" of 27!!) but if this one's a fake it's a pretty good one.
Anyway, I don't mean to ramble on- I wanted to share my story with you. If you happen to have instant messenger, I have the one and my name there is Yeah I know thats pretty lame-
What other Titanic related signatures do you have? Im afraid the only other I have are a few things signed by Millvina Dean.
Good luck w/ your collection!
Darren Clossin