George Washington Signed Appointment For Dec. Signer William Ellery, From Ellery's Direct Descendant
George Washington Signed Appointment For Dec. Signer William Ellery, From Ellery's Direct Descendant

John Reznikoff

John Reznikoff in his research library

OUR FOUNDER: JOHN REZNIKOFF

 

From Boy Collector to Businessman

Our founder, John Reznikoff, first discovered the world of baseball cards, philately, and autographs in 1969 as a precocious nine-year-old. Ten years later the ambitious young businessman first established and incorporated University Archives.

John has been in business for 46 years. During that time, he has examined, cataloged, appraised, purchased, and sold hundreds of thousands of documents related to American, European, and world history. His expertise in handwriting authentication has brought him to the Library of Congress, and the offices of many branches of law enforcement. He is as equally comfortable on the set of the History Channel’s Pawn Stars as he is at international book fairs in Brooklyn, Boston, Manhattan, California, and London.

International Reputation

John’s reputation as a handwriting expert in the autograph industry is unparalleled. In addition to serving as an authenticator and questioned document examiner, he is also a respected collector, dealer, and auctioneer. He is the only expert to opine for both accepted third-party authentication services PSA and JSA. John is frequently asked to evaluate the authenticity of items by Christie’s, Sotheby’s, RR Auction, and largest rare book dealer in the world, Bauman Rare Books. CBS News called John’s expertise “the best in the world."

RESUME

2024

•  Served as "Chief Authenticator" in most episodes of Netflix series, King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch, Season 2

•  Hired as expert witness for famous "Hotel California" lyrics case

•  Testified in two major handwriting cases that benefited clients $3 million and $17 million respectively

2023

•  Served as historical documents expert in major segment of Netflix series, King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch, Season 1 filmed at the Museum of the American Revolution

•  Served as Einstein manuscripts and documents expert and interviewed for Benyamin Cohen's book, The Einstein Effect (Sourcebooks, 2023)

•  Featured speaker on historical documents and relics at Brigandi's Collectors Night 5.0, Brigandi Coins & Collectibles, NYC

•  Appointed director of new UACC (Universal Autograph Collectors Club)

2022

•  Consulted twice by CNN on air concerning presidential books and relics

2021

•  Selected by NYACT (largest anti-fraud conference) as a featured speaker on questioned documents

•  Featured in an article in Business Insider as advisor to Google executive

•  Selected by the family of Walter P. Chrysler to appraise and authenticate items for the Chrysler Museum, Auburn Hills, Michigan

•  Featured contributor to Netflix series Murder Among the Mormons as a handwriting authenticator and consultant

2020

•  Taped two broadcasted segments of Pawn Stars on important artifacts belonging to Ludwig van Beethoven and Frank Lloyd Wright

•  Selected by the Jack Kerouac heirs to appraise, authenticate and market the balance of his estate

•  Selected by the Forbes family to sell balance of Forbes Manuscript Collection

2019

•  Selected by Doris Kearns Goodwin to evaluate the papers of her late husband, Richard Goodwin

•  Contracted by Ralph Lauren to curate a nationwide exhibit of authentic presidential relics in their stores for a related book launch

•  Appraiser for multiple high-value donations to Kenneth Rendell’s Museum of World War II, recently acquired by Ronald Lauder

2018

•  Sole appraiser and authenticator for the Patton Family Archives, a multi-million dollar archive donated to General Patton’s hometown of Hamilton, Massachusetts

•  Lead witness for the State vs. Doraine Reed, longest-running criminal case on the Connecticut docket. Testimony lead to the conviction of a forger

•  Twice used as expert by the New York Times in separate cases regarding authenticity and value of presidential artifacts and manuscripts (George Washington and John F. Kennedy)

•  Consulted as an expert for news article run by the Washington Post, NBC News, London’s Daily Mail, the Chicago Tribune, AOL, the New York Post, and more

 

Full 46 Year Resume

A Word From Our President

John Reznikoff — Questioned Document Examiner

JOHN REZNIKOFF

World-Renowned Authenticator & Expert Witness

 

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