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Billy The Kid

November 3, 2011 by · Comments Off on Billy The Kid 

Billy The Kid, A picture is worth a thousand words, but some can be worth millions of dollars. For example, a Billy the Kid tintype recently sold at auction for 2.3 million y.

It is the only authentic photo of William Bonney in existence, but one of Spartanburg, South Carolina man believes he has found another.

“I am 125 percent convinced that it is Billy,” said Justin Shaw, a collector of antique tintypes. “There is nobody in this world could be.”

Shaw bought the tintype on eBay.

It was an auction for a 1800 tintype of “two well-dressed young men.”

The men in the photo were not identified, but Shaw says the man sitting was familiar.

“After seeing the true picture a thousand times, he said,” That has to be Billy the Kid, ‘”said Shaw.

So Shaw bought the tintype and 9.99 and began to study man who sat in the image.

He said that the facial features were a perfect couple, the man’s nostrils the way they wore their hats.

“When the eyebrows match perfectly, when the distance from the eyes match perfectly, when one nostril is bigger than the other, when with his hat in the same manner and holds the head in the same way There is no one else that could be, “said Shaw.

Had to be sure, so Shaw sent the picture of facial recognition expert Robert Schmitt.

Schmitt likened the image known photo of Billy the Kid with a high-tech software.

“Let’s put in the eyes of the authentic photo of Billy the Kid. Then we will make the eyes of the photo of Shaw,” Schmitt said comparing the two photos. “You can see how the characteristics of the line almost exactly. In fact, the nose looks so similar that is amazing.”

Schmitt then put one image over another, mixing images of return.

“Look at the nose as it passes from a nose in the other. It is almost identical. See the mouth. You can see how the mouth moves from one picture to another and becomes almost exactly the same,” he said.

Schmitt later said the analysis shows that the two men are in fact the same person, but Shaw said that nobody in the world of collectors will take your tintype seriously because of something he has not.

“Provenance” said Shaw. “Origin and a clear line of descent.”

Because Shaw bought the tintype on eBay because the seller does not know who originally owned it is impossible to establish the provenance, the history of the subject property.

“Apparently, the historic western collectors, must have a rock solid story that goes behind the image so that the image is authenticated,” said Shaw.

It’s not just tintypes from the 1800s that require source before they are taken seriously.

Important works of art are often priced based on whether a line of royal descent can be established.

“The provenance is as important as the value that you can add to your piece. The historical value. The monetary value,” said John Nolan, curator of the Gallery of Bob Jones University Museum &.

No amount of research can establish the history of ownership of tintype Shaw.

Shaw believes that the forensic analysis of your image, you must answer any questions about whether his Billy the Kid is the real picture.

“Once we found many similarities, which is beyond the point of no return. There is nobody else who could be,” said Shaw.

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