Sadly, it now appears that two of the fake bookplates have sold on EBay and the item has not been de-listed.

I was indeed troubled by the nature of the bookplate. It does look incredibly easy to reproduce in facsimile. One must wonder how many other fakes are out there already. Collecting autographs is always risky. I am partial to the limited and numbered deluxe editions that have been released in the past. These would seem much more difficult to fake, since these books are specifically made to be released as signed/deluxe copies, thus none exist which are unsigned.

I have sent reports to EBay for both the book and the bookplates that were listed. I wonder how EBay determines whether the signatures are forged. Do they just base their decision on receiving a multitude of complaints, or do they have to prove it further in order to suspend this guy's account? The signed book was very obvious, but unless you were a Tolkien collector, the plates might be more difficult to disprove. I have certainly never seen anything like them and would be skeptical based simply on their random nature as well as the timing.

Hopefully with enough reports he can be "NARUed." If the auction gets pulled, does Ebay contact those who have already made a purchase?

The main listing has been pulled, I have also reported the bookplates, but they are still available, sadly one has been sold. If you have not already reported them to Ebay then please do so.

Forged Bookplates

I've heard of forged J. K. Rowling bookplates being sold (in addition to the many forged signatures on Harry Potter books). It's pretty easy to scan a copy of the bookplate since it just has the helm in black and white.

I reported it to eBay too--those listings have to get pulled!