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Charlton Heston Secretarial Signature Study

Hi:

At Steve Cyrkin's invitation, I'd like to call your attention to a signature study I've posted on my blog, Charlton Heston signature study by Steve Zarelli.

I believe I have identified the "tell" in Charlton Heston secretarial signatures, and if I am correct, the news is not good for most collectors. It appears that most Heston signed photos are secretarially signed.

Here is a synopsis:

The Theory
Photographs and other memorabilia sent to Mr. Heston's office were signed by a secretary. However, Mr. Heston did authentically sign books through-the-mail.

Real vs. Secretary
In authentic signatures, the R in "Charlton" is distinctly a lowercase "r" and less than half the height of the L. The first four letters are clearly "Char."

In secretarial signatures, the R looks much more like a lowercase "l" and is about the same height as the L. So, the first four letters appear to be "Chall."

I have attached two images to give you a small sampling.

For more details and images, please visit my blog at the link below.

I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on this. I fully anticipate some resistance to the theory, because denial is always the first step. In fact, I would love to be proved wrong, because that would mean I wasn't sitting on a bunch of secretary signed photos!

By way of introduction, I have been collecting since the early 90s and I am the UACC Ethics Director.

I look forward to the discussion.

The Collecting Obsession

Regards,

Steve Zarelli

Tags: Charlton, Forgery, Heston, Secretary, authenticating, autograph, secretarial

2 members like this

Attachments: No photo uploads here

Figure 1.jpg, 60 KB
Secretary 1.jpg, 37 KB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 10:01am

Steve...

Have you heard back yet from Joe Orlando or anyone else at PSA/DNA??????

I havent.

DB, Steve Z, anyone here back from PSA/DNA?????

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 13, 2011 at 10:04am

Not yet. I used the general contact email from the web site. In their defense, it may take a while to find its way from that general inbox to someone who can really address it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 13, 2011 at 10:13am

Email Al Wittnebert.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 13, 2011 at 10:20am

I did and he knows about the study. His response was positive.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 10:41am

any response from Joe Orlando?

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 13, 2011 at 2:28pm

NO - Orlando has heard about it just recently and he will address with the people who are / were responsible for it when they get back from their travels. I doubt in the big scheme of things that there are an abundance of Hestons that go thru them in view of the more others popular ones but I wonder if will make the top ten list.

These are the ten “most dangerous autographs” of historical and entertainment figures in 2010, according to PSA/DNA.

1. Elvis Presley ($1,500 for a signed cut to $35,000 or more for a signed contract or letter). Elvis’ popularity is global, and because he passed away at only 42 years of age in 1977 the amount of authentic autographs is extremely limited.

2. The Beatles ($5,000 for a signed cut to $15,000 or more for a signed photo). They are, quite simply, the most heavily forged band in the autograph world.

3. John F. Kennedy ($1,750 for a signed cut to $25,000 or more for a Presidential letter or document). In addition to a large amounts of forgeries, non-malicious “Kennedy” forgeries were produced by secretaries and via autopen during his tenure in office.

4. Marilyn Monroe ($2,500 for a signed cut to $15,000 or more for a signed photo). Yet again, another celebrity who passed away at a very young age (36 in 1962) which resulted in a very limited number of authentic autographs for fans of the iconic actress.

5. Michael Jackson ($200 for a signed cut to $1,000 or more for a signed photo). With his recent passing in 2009 at the age of 50, Jackson forgeries flooded the marketplace in 2010.

6. Jim Morrison ($1,200 for a signed cut to $4,000 or more for a signed photo). The lead singer of The Doors died at age 27 in 1971. Most of the genuine Morrison autographs found today come in the form of check endorsements, but forgers target record album covers, photos and even simple slips of paper.

7. Neil Armstrong ($1,000 for a signed cut to $5,000 or more for a signed photo). Astronauts are one of the most popular autograph collecting themes, and over the past three decades the first man to set foot on the moon has had a virtual no-autograph policy making it even more difficult for collectors to obtain the genuine article.

8. Jimi Hendrix ($2,500 for a signed cut to $7,500 or more for a signed photo). The earliest known contract (1965) of the guitar legend sold for just over $200,000 at auction in 2009.

9. James Dean ($2,000 for a signed cut to $8,500 or more for a signed photo). Like Marilyn Monroe, forgers often target photos of Dean as the “canvas” for counterfeit autographs.

10. Walt Disney ($650 for a signed cut to $3,500 or more for a signed photo). His signature is one of the most unique and attractive autographs in any genre, which increases the demand.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 10:03am

Steve Z.

Have any of the Registered Dealers of the UACC given you any feedback on the study?????

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Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 11:06am

Just wanted everyone to know that ebay has a very reputable autograph seller in their midst.

"Dee's Signed Treasures" in the ebay stores has removed all her Heston Listings from her site,

for further review and due diligence after I notified her of Steve Z's Study and sent her a link to the

Forum.

She thanked me for the heads up, and I thanked her for her integrity.

An ebay dealer we can be proud of...

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Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 11:10am

I received another response from an ebay dealer who said to me

"You do know that this has been certified authentic by PSA/DNA right?
Need i say more......

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 13, 2011 at 11:29am

What a shock.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on March 13, 2011 at 11:46am

That's the situation I saw coming. Sellers ( and I actually have to side on them a little bit...Not totally though ) will and should note that the items with PSA certs were "authorized" by the company's authenticator(s). However, Straight forward sellers will look at the evidence of these studies and remove the items from the market regardless of the COAs attached.

Then, it will come down to whatever arrangement PSA, JSA, GAI, ACE, whoever makes with the owner's of the autographs. Now, I'm not thinking or stating that they will offer refunds. It would give them a chance to make a statement that mistakes were made and that the material in question should not be sold.

It may mean that countless sellers will have to trash countless items or at the least inform buyers that they are buying a likely secretarial that has been authenticated.

We can at best hope for a circle of information that a buyer can use to get as much info as possible from sellers and authenticators / experts.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Shinn on March 13, 2011 at 11:59am

Brandon...

This is why it is so important that " Somone Anyone" from PSA/DNA respond here on this forum.

FYI, The Heston Exemplar that they have up on their website "PSA/DNA's Real! Autographs online"

has the authentic example of Heston's genuine Signature, yet somehow the exemplar database they used for the 100's of Heston's they certified as Genuine Authentic Signature, appears to be a Secretarial Exemplar.

Why won't they respond.....

Prove me wrong