The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 24, June 11, 2006, Article 35

LATEST MEDIA REPORT ON ESCALA FALLOUT

Stephen Pradier forwarded a link to a new and very lengthy Fox
News story about the fall of Greg Manning's House of Escala:

"Manning, 59, is one of the best-known figures in the stamp
collecting business. Indeed, he rose from trading stamps as a
Boy Scout into the most powerful industry player in North America.
In 1993, he took his auction firm public as Greg Manning Auctions
International, with the goal of becoming a one-stop powerhouse
for all collectibles, from coins and baseball cards to stamps,
art and comics.

Manning was among the first to offer loans to mom-and-pop stamp
dealers –- giving them huge cash advances and up to 90 days
repayment time to divide up and sell collection lots that they
otherwise couldn’t afford to touch. The sales took place through
his auctions, and Manning made money on all sides of the
transactions.

This can work quite nicely if you keep churning it, explains
Keith Harmer, who sold his family’s prestigious century-old stamps
business, H.R. Harmer, to Escala in 2004. I never issued credit
like that, but Greg did it with fervor. He had a touch of the
gambler. And when he went public, he had the biggest pockets of
anyone in the game to write the biggest checks.

To read the complete story, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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