
Mark Hofmann - lermontov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann
======
DanAndersen
Mark Hofmann is my (ex-)uncle (by marriage, not by blood). Needless to say,
the whole affair isn't something we really bring up at family gatherings. From
a historical/detached standpoint the events are all certainly interesting and
scandalous and fascinating, I'm sure. My main reaction to it all is just
sadness at the pain he put his wife and kids through because of it, and how
they've been able to show strength by moving forward in their own lives. It's
times like this I feel extremely blessed that our own extended family is
close-knit enough that we can support each other.

------
Lordarminius
So nobody wants to say it ? Ok I will.

Hoffman profited because the entire history and founding of the LDS was and is
b.s.

Hoffman got caught and tried for forgery but perhaps the greatest forger and
conman of them all in this narrative was Joseph Smith himself. People have
known this for a long time: Joseph Smith's criminal record, his sexual
proclivities, unverified 'visions' (as if any visions could be verified); the
evidence abounds but we act like the church elders in the article - afraid to
peek to closely let we find the truth. To be fair, this tendency to swallow up
fairytales is not a restricted to mormons, it is probably the foundation of
all religions, major and minor.

When grown men and women believe fantastic revelation stories uncritically and
build great structures of worship and institutions around such beliefs, once
in a while these sorts of events occur that expose the inconsistencies.

~~~
jjeaff
No one said it, because it doesn't make any sense.

>Hoffman profited because the entire history and founding of the LDS was and
is b.s.

Huh? Sounds like you are just itching for a chance to speak ill of a religion
you don't like (or religion in general).

Forgers that are good, profit, regardless. Hoffman fooled many very well
respected experts. As do many good forgers in many different fields.

------
pmiller2
Hofmann is also believed to be responsible for a “mule” 1959-D Lincoln cent
with the wheat reverse[0]. (1959 was the first year of the Lincoln memorial
reverse, so no more wheat cents should have been made.) The coin surfaced in
1986 and was authenticated by the secret service, yet no one in the coin
business will either condemn or authenticate it. The coin has been sold
several times since then for larger and larger sums of money.

——

[0]: [https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-mystery-of-the-1959-d-mule-
lin...](https://www.pcgs.com/news/the-mystery-of-the-1959-d-mule-lincoln-cent)

------
trhway
Religion is again topping used car salesmanship :

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann#Salamander_letter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann#Salamander_letter)

Perhaps the most notorious of Hofmann's Mormon forgeries, the Salamander
letter, appeared in 1984. Supposedly written by Harris to W. W. Phelps, the
letter presented a version of the recovery of the gold plates that contrasted
markedly with the church-sanctioned version of events. Not only did the
forgery intimate that Smith had been practicing "money digging" through
magical practices, but it also replaced the angel that Smith said had appeared
to him with a white salamander.[28]

After the letter had been purchased for the church and become public
knowledge, LDS Church apostle Dallin H. Oaks asserted to Mormon educators that
the words "white salamander" could be reconciled with Smith's Angel Moroni
because, in the 1820s, the word salamander might also refer to a mythical
being thought to be able to live in fire, and a "being that is able to live in
fire is a good approximation of the description Joseph Smith gave of the Angel
Moroni."[29]

------
ga_golfnut
Anyone interested in how the events of his forgeries and subsequent murders
unfolded should listen to this podcast episode [0] (parts 2 & 3). The tale is
told by one of Hofmann's former friends, Brent Metcalfe. Brent's boss, Steve
Christensen, was one of Hofmann's victims.

[0]: [https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/brent-metcalfe-mark-
ho...](https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/brent-metcalfe-mark-hofmann-
salamander-letter-bombings/)

Edit: even as a former Mormon, I find this history fascinating.

------
mholt
There's a collector in Provo that has the original case files (including, I
believe, DVD recordings) from his trials. (Source: I've seen the physical
media.) There's a lot of answers to the public's common questions in there.

------
majos
The extent of Hoffman's forgery and its impact on LDS scholarship reminds me
of Leopoldo Francioloni, a 19th century Italian antiques dealer who passed off
so many fraudulent works that, per Wikipedia, "[t]o this day his work is a
barrier to the scholarly study of instruments of the past."

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Franciolini](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Franciolini)

------
gonzo
Attended BYU 1980 - 1984. I remember the headlines in the "Daily Universe"
(campus newspaper) about Hoffman.

------
gonzo
Better info: [https://www.ioba.org/standard/2002/11/genuine-fakes-mark-
hof...](https://www.ioba.org/standard/2002/11/genuine-fakes-mark-hoffman/)

~~~
LeoPanthera
If you believe the Wikipedia article to be inferior you can improve it.

~~~
nvr219
The other article doesn't comply with wikipedia standards and those changes
would be reverted

------
umvi
It makes me wonder what other historical artifacts we believe are genuine are
actually forgeries.

How was Hoffman able to forge letters that were supposedly 100+ years old?
Wouldn't modern materials dating techniques reveal the fraud immediately?

~~~
xahrepap
He would take pages from old books. The blank pages at the start/end, etc. Not
sure how he spoofed the ink

~~~
failrate
IIRC, you can either recreate the ink from a recipe, find old ink and re-
dissolve it, or if you have the patience you can extract it from old pages.

------
crististm
"You bend the structure of reality too much... it snaps back at you"

------
tw1010
I prefer Erving Goffman.

~~~
posamari
Could you elaborate?

