Urgent: Regarding Sergio And Liane Sismondo's Books, Etc!

Floortrader, could you post hi-res images of the two Theresienstadt stamps? I have my doubts that they are genuine, even with the lo-res image, but cannot be certain. Thanks.

GERMANIA --- Got my copy of the news article from Western Stamp Collector { didn't keep the date and issue of the article } and matched it to the above posted webpage for STAMPX.COM .

Sure enough the newspaper article was explaining/ using one forgery to compare to another forgery, there are 11 different types of know forgeries of this stamp. Your doubts are correct , both stamps are forgeries as shown on the website STAMPX.COM .

Floortrader,

FYI, per Russell Eggert at Dutch Country Auctions today at Chicagopex, they are in possession of Sergio Sismondo's literature and research materials and will be offering them in a forthcoming auction.

Thanks for that additional information about Sergio's research base,books and records . Understand Sergio spoke and understood Italian Spanish ,French and parts of German with his English ,so some of his stuff is better sold in the European market .

Looking forward to see what he had and how it goes at auction .

Well now that is interesting. The estate spread it around. Cherrystone got some and Dutch got some. Very nice!

Which "it" are you referring to, specifically the literature and research materials, or do you also mean the stamp inventory? As mentioned in another thread, some of the Sismondo inventory ended up at Apfelbaum (many lots still available), and this revelation apparently came as a surprise to certain parties involved in the estate. There may have been some shenanigans going on (sadly not uncommon when it comes to disposition of a deceased's estate).

What seems to be missing here are the records of Sergio. The backup, notes and information for the thousands of certificates he issued. That is what I wonder about the most. The other stuff is material that would not raise an eyebrow except for the provenance. If anything was considered "dumpster" fodder it would likely be that material since you really could not sell it.

But it could be offered to the APRL or some other philatelic library, who would probably be glad to have it. And then it would at least be a tax write-off.

I assume we won't end up with an archive of certificates...

Completely agree. Even more than some of the material itself, this is perhaps the most valuable part of his holdings - the certs and everything that went into them.

If only other experts could be persuaded, before it's too late, to come up with a plan to safeguard their life's work and let the community benefit. You can't take it with you...

I am wondering if anyone has heard an update on the situation with Liane Sismondo. It is going on almost 1 year since I sent my stamps to her when her husband was still alive, and they had a stamp authentication business.
The last thing mentioned here was that their son was getting involved, and would help out. I know what I sent them were very valuable, and authentic, but wanted the Sismondo Certificate to go along with them. I just have this bad feeling that I am never going to see them again. I just hope that they did not end up in a trash dumpster, like someone mentioned earlier in this thread. If that is the case, I am afraid his reputation will be there as well.

If (big IF) they ended up in the trash, HE did not pit them there as he is dead, so how can that ruin his reputation?

You may have to sue her and the estate to get their attention, if the value of your material justifies it and you have proof of what you sent. The statute of limitations could be as short as one or two years. Check with a qualified lawyer. Or, send a demand letter to her and the executor. Of course, the estate could be insolvent and have nothing to give you, but there's no way to know unless you start getting tough.

that is terrible. Yes you will have to contact the estate before it is too late.