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questionable George Reeves signature on ebay - source: Americabilia.com

I have never heard of Americabilia.com, but as a specialist in George Reeves signatures, I see some things wrong with this alleged signature. According to the paper work shown, it was purchased from this outfit in 2001. No owner or employee signed or dared to put their name on this "certificate" for the big laughable 30 day guarantee they offered. A 30 day guarantee ??? In my view, that should have been a big red flag for the buyer.

Just curious, has anyone ever heard of this outfit?

ebay item # 120878331266

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on June 8, 2012 at 7:19pm

Jet,

I'm not going to comment on the authenticity of the autograph, because it's above my pay grade—it's concerning but not obviously bad to me. You know much more about Reeves than I do. But a low opening bid means nothing to me. I've seen things start at 99-cents on eBay that sell for tens of thousands of dollars. The opening bid isn't the reserve.

In fact, if I held an eBay auction, I'd probably start it at 99-cents.

But you know what I don't understand? That JSA doesn't post the images online of what they certify, and PSA/DNA only posts images of things they issue letters on—not COAs. It's so easy to fake an LOA or COA, online and in print.

JSA and PSA letters and COAs are counterfeited all the time. Having an image of everything they certify online would largely protect people against counterfeit authentications.

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Permalink Reply by Jet Jackson on June 8, 2012 at 7:36pm

You are right. Posting them online would stop people from marrying a certificate to another autograph or item.

And yes, the low price does not mean much in reality, but you should be willing to sell at the low price if you post it. Personally, I wouldn't take the gamble if it was really genuine. I mean we are talking about several 100 dollars here. An off week & a bad economy could result in only a few bids. However, if I had nothing to lose, no problem. And with the several inconsistencies in this signature, I would say there is nothing to lose.

Having watched closely Reeves signatures for years now, I rarely see such low opening prices on the genuine ones. Not that it couldn't happen, of course.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on June 8, 2012 at 8:20pm

Jet,

I really enjoy discussing George Reeves with you, because you've been a serious collector for ages. Sometimes your posts make me a little uncomfortable, because you don't say "I think" or "in my opinion" when discussing authenticity...even tho that's assumed when people comment on authenticity in a forum. I'm a bit of a wuss about that. But you've never been off-the-wall, and I think you're extremely sharp on Reeves.

Your position that people should be willing to accept their starting bid is hard to argue, but that's not how most auctions off eBay work—except for no reserve auctions. When you start at a low price, there's a synergy—an acceleration—that comes on like stepping on a gas pedal, that can drive prices higher.

Even more important, if an auction's idea of what something is worth is higher than it really is worth, having a low opening bid and a higher reserve will give the consignor and auction a better idea of what the item is worth the next time they put it on the block.

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Permalink Reply by Jet Jackson on June 8, 2012 at 9:39pm

Yes, Steve, I know what you mean with the synergy created by a low price. I actually have gotten some good bargains that way. As a somewhat infrequent seller ( I buy too much!), I am a bit chicken when it comes to putting a low price out there. I tend to compromise & go higher.

You are right about my directness. I assume it is taken as my humble opinion in this venue, but I shall try to remember to state it as such. It is my opinion folks, based on 35 yrs. of Reeves study. Just for the record, I only specialize in what I like to collect and certainly am not a general authority. George Reeves and Stevie Ray Vaughan are among my top interests.

Unless you witness the signature being made firsthand, it is all opinion. And of course Reeves passed away 50+ yrs. ago, so I never witnessed him signing and have encountered few who were lucky enough to have done so. But I sure would have liked to have been there to witness it!

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Permalink Reply by Lory M on October 27, 2012 at 3:47am

Morning, I'm new here and came across your site being a fan of Superman, especially autographs and early vintage collectable items. I was curious of your knowledge of George Reeves signatures as that is one of my "holy grails" to find. What peaked my interest in your site, was that the above bad imitation you mention above is currently for sale on Ebay (GEORGE REEVES SIGNED AUTOGRAPHED JSA DNA SUPERMAN X44639), or looks pretty exact to the one you pictured. It's now listed as a UK seller, for around $1000 US. It does anger me if what you say is true, and Ebay has no real concerns/interest in items that have shown or as least, been questioned as forged items. Not sure if anything can be done, but at least you have this site to use as a warning to other collectors. Since I would, as I'm sure would others, only want a true and authentic item, especially regarding George Reeves, I thought I'd share this info here. Thanks for the forum and your help and knowledge. Have found some really good information and advice here.

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Permalink Reply by Jet Jackson on October 27, 2012 at 9:41am

Hi Lory,

I looked, but could not find that George sig. you saw. Could you list the item # or a link? It has been noted often before that many forgeries of celebrities seem to come from or through the UK. As always it is buyer beware. Educate yourself before you buy. Don't make an impulsive purchase without some research. Ebay is basically a big flea market. They can't act as signature experts, but occasionally they will listen to a complaint. Signature collecting is a hobby with a lot of judgement calls, unless you were lucky enough to get the sig. from the celebrity personally. I did get to talk to Noel Neill once. That was fun! She was so nice & personable. It was kind of surreal because we feel like we know her already from the TV show.

I am always glad to meet another George fan. How long have you been a fan?

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Permalink Reply by Lory M on October 27, 2012 at 12:05pm

Hi Jet,

Wonderful to meet another George Reeves fan as well! I also got to meet Ms. Neill once at the Metropolis Illinois Superman Museum many years back, and she is indeed a very down to earth and wonderfully kind lady. I've been a fan of George Reeves since watching reruns of the early Superman serials with my grandmother back in the late 60's. I've been a Superman fan every since. I've gotten through my efforts or my family members, Kirk Alyn, Phyllis Coates, Noel Neill, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder,Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain's autographs...but yet, my favorite "Superman" of all, George Reeves has remained out of reach for me. Due much to the reasons you have mentioned yourself, hard to find a reputable dealer I truly can trust and a price that's not off the charts. Not to mention, his signature will never be one I can unfortunately witness for myself. Hence, my motivation to continue the "quest" for the real deal. :)

I don't know how, or even if to notify Ebay on the signature you mentioned and that I've seen to come across again. I'm not a qualified appraiser, but even I spotted this signature and thought it was somewhat shady and that's just from someone who has been searching for this signature for so many years that I have seen the authentic over and over with the same unique patterns and shapes so many times, that this one just looked really off when I saw it. Then I was looking into other Reeves signatures and came across the comments you made about a odd signature and it's markings and thought, "Wow, how strange is this? Sounds like the same one I had just viewed..." Again, by no means am I a qualified to call Ebay and say something looks kinda off here...But, I worked in forensics for the State Police here in Oregon, primary with fingerprints and such, and your eyes get trained for reviewing and searching how the way patterns have certain leans, distinctions and whirls to them. Signatures have that same natural flow and fluidity to their original pattern as well. There shouldn't be breaks, skips or abnormal leans in the motion of the signature. This one, like someone earlier mentioned, looked like "Mr. Reeves" had quickly sprawled out his first name, but then the pace change and neatly signed the last name slowly and with more definition in the letters. Just looked odd and practiced to me.

Anyway, see what you think. I really hate to think some poor buyer is going to purchase this and not have the real deal. Especially if they are a real fan like ourselves and has been waiting to find this autograph for so long as well. By the way, thank you for sharing your photo and signature...that is quite nice and like you said, a collector's dream. Great find, it was a real pleasure to see it. Hopefully, I will find something like that in the future as well. Perhaps in another posting, you can share the authenticators that you have come to trust and know to be quite good in their trade. Would definitely help me weed through some of these so called authentic COA and letters some of these other quacks put out there.

If you just go to Ebay and type the header I put in above (GEORGE REEVES SIGNED AUTOGRAPHED JSA DNA SUPERMAN X44639) into the search window, it will bring up the signature. Strangely, I swore I saw it showing it in English pounds (with the American conversion rate underneath) but this is showing a straight up $999. Buy it now price, originating from NY. It is however, the same signature you described in your earlier discussion, with the same Mr, James Spence "Letter of Authenticity" attached to it.

Thanks again Jet. Once more very happy to meet another Reeves fan and look forward to hearing your thoughts and how you yourself became a fan as well.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 8, 2012 at 6:36pm

One of my favorite shows to this day is Superman, and to this day, Mr. Reeves death is still a mystery.

Thank you, Jet, for posting your signed photograph.

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Permalink Reply by DB on June 9, 2012 at 5:37am

Perhaps the good news is the one listed here (& depicted below) didn't sell; Americabilia is/was a publically resgistered corporation. - here's a link to one of there 10k filings. Maybe Peter can recoup his $2500.00

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1091356/000091205701004456/a...