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Autograph's Johnny Cash Signature Study — Be Part of It!

Has there ever been a nicer, more humble, more fan friendly superstar than Johnny Cash?

Johnny was the Babe Ruth of Country Music—the top-ranking Country artist of all time and the most loved. And Johnny loved his fans as much as they love him. So while like the Babe, Cash signed untold numbers of autographs, the supply could never meet demand...and probably never will.

Fans who couldn't meet Cash in person often requested autographs through the mail. The common belief is that he personally autographed those requests. But between his demanding touring schedule and later, his failing health and vision, it seems impossible that he could have signed even half of the mail he received.

A growing number of collectors and dealers now believe that many if not most Johnny Cash through the mail autographs were secretarial. We want to see if we can identify any secretarial styles, and at the same time build a reference collection of no-question genuine Cash exemplars to help identifying forgeries.

 

Are There Johnny Cash Secretarials?
If So, How Do We Identify Them?
Help Find Out!

You can be an important part of the study in three ways:

  1. Upload into this discussion images of Johnny Cash autographs that you personally received through the mail, and tell us when you received them. (The year is fine, but if you know the date, even better.)
  2. Upload images of Johnny's autographs that YOU saw signed by Johnny yourself. Include the date or at least year, too. If you didn't see it signed yourself (like pre-signed ones sold or given away at shows), please don't upload it.
  3. As more and more images are uploaded, see if you can identify characteristics that are commonly found on Johnny's through the mail autographs that are rarely if ever seen on ones signed in person.

With your help, we can identify Cash secretarials if they're out there. Over time this should increase the value of genuine Johnny Cash autographs, and help protect future fans and collectors against autographs that aren't authentic. 

Once we finish this phase of the study, we'll go on to identifying genuine Johnny Cash autographs from forgeries.

Let's go!

Tags: Johnny, autographs, cash, genuine, mail, secretarial, the, through

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 5, 2011 at 5:21am

You guys here really are the best and I love the fact that you're all willing to share your opinions.  I bought this piece on eBay and have been going back and forth about it for several days.  The seller is a wonderfully friendly lady who was waiting for my final decision before she shipped it, so I told her about the Epperson opinion and things that were stated here (and Bill Miller, of course), so I decided to cancel.  She's selling things for Peggy Knight (they are friends), so I asked if Peggy might have something to offer that is without a doubt signed by Johnny as a replacement.

Permalink Reply by Robert Sledz on November 6, 2011 at 2:26pm

Glad you had a great experience!

Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on November 4, 2011 at 5:21pm

Very nice piece. I can see why both Epperson and PSA said yes to it. Great sig. $65, effectively $87 is a great price for it. There was a poster on here once upon a time who cautioned people in a thread against quick opinions because he said that these people would steal your deals if you let them. It didn't happen here.

Permalink Reply by JJKANDLAK on November 4, 2011 at 5:49pm

Thanks Brick. The idea that an opportunist would swoop in on it(especially with a "buy it now" option) did cross my mind...

Permalink Reply by Mike on November 8, 2011 at 6:31pm

here is one, that was a gift to me years ago, the person said it was an in person signature, by the study looks like it is. What do you think ???

 

Permalink Reply by Peter Lougheed on November 8, 2011 at 7:01pm

Here is a PSA/DNA certified cassette cover I recently received.

 

 

Attachments: No photo uploads here
Permalink Reply by Peter Lougheed on November 8, 2011 at 7:40pm

On the back (see below)

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Richard F. Gaspar on November 9, 2011 at 4:30pm

Here are a couple of autographs I was going to bid on. Any input would be great!

 

Thanks!

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on November 9, 2011 at 5:24pm

I'd stay away from anything with a GA stamp on it except NASCAR :D.

I'm not an expert and the image is kind of small, but I think the bottom one could be good. I'd get it checked it out by an expert before purchasing.

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 9, 2011 at 9:40pm

Rick,

These are the hammer prices for the two albums I told you were closing at RRAuction.com tonight:

This one, Lot 762, went for $121+20% Buyer's fee:

This one, Lot 763, went for  $240+20% Buyer's fee:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were authenticated by RRAuction only and not Roger Epperson, probably because they're inexpensive. Since the collecting community is becoming more and more aware of secretarials that previously commonly were considered genuine, it's really important to check every autograph you're considering...no matter the source.

Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 11, 2011 at 4:38pm

I think I got one!  I think I got one! 

Attachments: No photo uploads here
Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 15, 2011 at 6:28am

I'm no Johnny cash expert... but from what I've seen in this thread, the signed book looks pretty solid. Nice!

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