For Sale Pieces of the big piece on eBay

[joshhawley2001]

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well, I have a question how legit do you all think this seller on eBay is or could be? He claims to have a letter from the person/collector that once had these, And I know that this kind of stuff can be very difficult to tell if real or not, But I am very skeptical about this I also don't want to make a rushed judgment on the seller I just thought I would ask you all fine people what your thoughts are about this. Thanks in advance

 

[Bob Read]

That’s not much provenance. As P.T. Barnum said: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Caveat emptor.

 

[William Oakes]

Not to mention, it is illegal as only RMSTI has salvage rights.

 

[joshhawley2001]

That’s not much provenance. As P.T. Barnum said: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Caveat emptor.

Thank you for your reply I appreciate it, it's really sad to think people would do this and take advantage of people. Its been a dream of mine to be able to own a piece of the Titanic just like I'm sure it is with everyone here. Thanks again you guys

 

[joshhawley2001]

Not to mention, it is illegal as only RMSTI has salvage rights.

Yeah, that is true, thank you for your reply, I appreciate it

 

[Gordon Mooneyhan]

RMSTI was selling ballpoint pens a few years ago that had a piece of the big piece in it, a strictly limited edition. The piece was much smaller than a penny.

RMSTI does sell coal pieces complete with Certificates of Authenticity.

 

[joshhawley2001]

RMSTI was selling ballpoint pens a few years ago that had a piece of the big piece in it, a strictly limited edition. The piece was much smaller than a penny.

RMSTI does sell coal pieces complete with Certificates of Authenticity.

Yeah, that is true and I do plan on getting one of those, I did end up getting a rustical fragment from them, but sadly when it came to that i was like oh awesome I would be owning a metal piece of the big piece but i guess from after I bought it, it turns out that a rustical is not actually part of the titanic But I hope to get an actual piece of titanic someday. Thank you for your reply, and i hope that you have a good and safe weekend

 

[Strickland]

As Mr Read said above, caveat emptor. Whether in the Middle Ages buying a piece of "the Cross" or more recently buying a "lost Matisse" or a piece of the Titanic, provenance is everything, and if it can't be verified then it comes down to trust in the seller, the latter being a really dodgy concept once it gets beyond organizations that actually had their hands on the wreck. Like many hundreds (thousands?) others, I purchased my piece of Titanic coal directly from an official Titanic exhibition put on in the late 1990s by RMS Titanic Inc. and IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer), so I have complete confidence (or as complete as one can) it is genuine. However, were I to sell my piece of coal on eBay, the buyer would have to have complete confidence in me, not RMSTI and IFREMER. The stronger the impulse to acquire, the more vulnerable to fraud. Maybe find a trusted source who is not flogging their wares on the internet.

 

[Gordon Mooneyhan]

Yeah, that is true and I do plan on getting one of those, I did end up getting a rustical fragment from them, but sadly when it came to that i was like oh awesome I would be owning a metal piece of the big piece but i guess from after I bought it, it turns out that a rustical is not actually part of the titanic But I hope to get an actual piece of titanic someday. Thank you for your reply, and i hope that you have a good and safe weekend

I'm just curious, why is a rustical not part of the Titanic?