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Imagine that: A real, historic Davy Crockett document for sale on eBay

Yes indeed, friends, step right up and place your bids. Here we have (had) a genuine Davy Crockett Almanac. Right there for sale on an eBay auction. (The Crockett almanacs were a series of pamphlets written by the Tennessean who died at the Alamo.)

The one problem, however, is that you have to (had to -- the auction was halted when the seller was arrested) be willing to bid on illegally obtained historic documents. The man responsible, a New York State employee, was found out when an alert history buff noticed the Crockett documents and some other stuff the guy was selling at the popular auction site. Read the story of this crafty historical archives thief here. All told, he seems to have stolen around 400 historic documents to sell on eBay, including a letter dated to 1823 written by Vice President John C. Calhoun.

Happily, the eBay people cooperated with authorities to track the guy down and stop him, though the story indicates he may have sold a number of items.

My question would be this: How can someone out there buy something like that in good conscience on eBay? I don't know what line of B.S. the guy used to persuade buyers, but, DUH, does an honest person really think he's getting a legitimate deal buying historical documents from some no-name individual on eBay?? Wake up and get serious, people.

Ah, well, what do I know? I'm just a guy who reads the papers. (And most of what I know about Davy Crockett I learned in the 1950s courtesy of Walt Disney and Fess Parker.)
[tags]historic documents on eBay, thief steals historic documents, eBay auction swindles, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]