An Autograph Almost Imossible to Authenticate

As an autograph collector, I often wonder how the experts at PSA, JSA, etc. authenticate autographs of people that almost never sign anything. Therefore, there are very few or sometimes, just one exemplar to go by and it may not be known when it was signed. For example, Steve Jobs, Stephen Hawking, or "Sholess" Joe Jackson. I'm sure there are many other.

So what's an expert to do when he's asked to do so: authenticate them or decline? Any thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on October 9, 2012 at 3:27am

Unless there is some way to certainly feel the signature matches an example that is guaranteed (witnessed and verified ) to be authentic, the Authenticator MUST decline due to lack of VALID examples. It's an ethics issue, if you can't fully guarantee that the example you have is real, you can't use it to compare.

Actually, online images and a small number of exemplars should never be used for comparrison anyway. There may be times when you have over 100 examples, know the autograph like the back of your hand, but still not feel strong enough about a submission to call it either way. Therefore, the ethical honesty tells us that one example ( even if authentic ) can not and should not be used to make comparrison opinions on other items.

Who cares if the customer or the parent company gets upset. Experts need to use common sense and do what's RIGHT.

Customers really shouldn't be charged for authentication opinions anyway. Charged for the sticker, coa, & database service. But anyone who pays for another persons opinion, should at least get to hear directly from the expert who rendered the said opinion. If you don't hear directly from, or have access to the "expert" who opined on your item(s), you never really know for sure that the true expert is who looked at the item(s). You might have sent in a modern Hollywood autograph, yet the vintage tennis expert may have been the one who "opined".

How would you know?

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Permalink Reply by william on October 9, 2012 at 5:27pm

I totally agree in someways there hard to tell real or not but this is why ill buy no more at an auction. I

even went to look at them I think the guy was doing autopen and bringing them to the auction gallery and telling the auction gallery there real what a dope See mmy page of all the fakes i purchased ill not name the auction house cause there good people and did know have any knologe about faked or real autographs it the seller that took them there doop the public & The Auction house.

the people. i notified them to wach out for this guy