Free to Read · From the Book

The Introduction

In Gary Hendershott's own words — why this guide exists.

Collecting can be a fun, enjoyable, and profitable experience. Yet there are fakes and scoundrels in every field of art and historical collectibles, and you will inevitably be confronted by both. Art and historical collectibles are a completely unregulated, multi-billion-dollar tangible asset with no rules, which leaves the door wide open to the fakes and scoundrels who sell them as genuine.

Writing this guidebook has not been a labor of love, but a laborious process, bringing up my own memories of what I should have done differently. It is intended to help you navigate through my own fifty years of experience and the inherent problems that I had to learn the hard way. Many wealthy collectors and museum curators have been taken advantage of by forgers and scoundrels.

This guide is for collectors and museum curators, as well as investors, bankers, insurance companies, estate planners, dealers, and auction companies, along with families who have inherited historical collectibles from a family member. Every collection has a fake or two; it may be only one out of a hundred, but rest assured, it is there.

Historical collectibles have huge intrinsic value and exist within a completely unregulated billion-dollar market. It is not regulated by any government authority, which, in many ways, is good, as it is a safe place to privately store money. Most collectibles do increase in value over time and can be a solid private investment if you can avoid the pitfalls. Auction houses and dealers will not refund your money if you later discover that you have purchased a fake. Bank loan officers and insurance agents can, and often do, become caught up in fraudulent schemes with little or no recourse. The imaginations of scoundrels are endless. They can fake a painting, fake a coin, fake a gun, fake anything, and create fraudulent appraisals to accompany their forgeries.

As I wrote this guide, I discovered that it also became my life's journey in historical collectibles. Everything I write about here has happened to me. I wish I had a reference like this when I started fifty years ago; I could have saved a great deal of money and avoided the trauma created by the never-ending fakes and scoundrels.

I have tried to be fair, but I have not altogether followed the advice of some older and wiser people. Had I done so, a better guidebook might have resulted, but a less honest one. I alone am therefore responsible for the opinions in these pages.

Gary Lynn Hendershott · 2026

"Defeating tyranny is hell, but someone has to do it."
Inside the Book

Twenty chapters. Fifty years on the record.

A glimpse at each case — the full stories, names, and lessons are in the book.

  1. 01

    Auction Companies — “The Big Back Door”

    In a single year inside an auction house, I brought in $30 million in consignments — and never saw the commission I was owed.

  2. 02

    Bank Loans & Liens on Collectibles — “Loan to Own”

    A damaged painting bought for $25,000, “appraised” at $650,000, and borrowed against for $400,000. None of it was ever paid back.

  3. 03

    Insurance Frauds — “Lightning”

    Insurance fraud in collectibles is an easy crime to commit. All you need is a patsy — someone to pin it on.

  4. 04

    Replevin & Repatriation — “It’s Mine, Not Yours”

    It begins with a single phone call: a claim that something you own really belongs to a government, a country, or someone else.

  5. 05

    Estate Planning — The Future of Your Collection

    Thomas Jefferson did his own estate planning — selling the largest library in America to help found the Library of Congress.

  6. 06

    Tax Donation — To Your Favorite Museum

    You can donate to a museum and keep your name in perpetuity — but use a real appraisal, and never overvalue the gift.

  7. 07

    Art — The Foremost Collectible in the World

    The highest price ever paid for any collectible was nearly half a billion dollars — for a single Leonardo.

  8. 08

    Historical Manuscripts — “The Thoughts of Mankind”

    Leonardo’s handwritten codex sold at Sotheby’s for $30 million — to Bill Gates, an inventor himself.

  9. 09

    Coin Collecting — The Catch-22

    I started collecting coins when gold was $35 an ounce — before the 40-year American ban on owning it was lifted.

  10. 10

    Gun Collecting — The Allure of Old Guns

    I once met a collector who owned more than 2,000 guns. Every room in his two-story home was filled.

  11. 11

    American Swords (1776–1865)

    Napoleon’s presentation sword sold in Paris in 2025 for $5 million. The sword has always been the most personal of weapons.

  12. 12

    American Flags (1700–2000)

    The four Tarleton Revolutionary War flags sold at Sotheby’s for $17 million — captured by the officer they called “Bloody Ban.”

  13. 13

    The American Civil War (1860–1865) — “The Lost Cause”

    The last war in which American officers led their men into battle with swords raised — and the most faked field in collecting.

  14. 14

    The American Indian (1500–1900)

    Westward expansion crossed tribal lands the Native nations had every intention of defending — and left a fraught market behind it.

  15. 15

    The American West (1500–2000) — “Manifest Destiny”

    America gained more than half its land mass in a single generation — and the gold rushes that followed built the legend.

  16. 16

    World War II (1933–1945) — “The Greatest Generation”

    My father walked onto Okinawa beach with the 2nd Marines on March 26, 1945 — the bloodiest battle of the war.

  17. 17

    Epilogue — Why I Published This Guidebook

    “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Everything in this book is real — and it happened to me.

  18. 18

    Addendum — Afterthoughts & the Psychology of Collecting

    Hard-won reflections on why we collect, and how to keep doing it with your eyes open.

  19. 19

    Great Collectors & the Good Guys

    Not everyone in this trade is a scoundrel. The greatest American collector of them all built his own Western town to house it.

  20. 20

    Glossary — The Language of Collecting

    A working vocabulary for buyers, sellers, and heirs — so the next scoundrel can’t hide behind the jargon.

Read the Full Story

All twenty chapters are in the book.

Auctions, banks, insurance, art, manuscripts, coins, guns, swords, flags, the Civil War, the American West, World War II — and the scoundrels behind each one.

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