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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 9, 2017 at 4:48pm

Welcome, Andrew!

Search for Steve Zarelli under members and ask him if he wouldn't mind looking at it in comments on his page and post a link to this discussion.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on March 9, 2017 at 6:42pm

Hello,

Obviously, Steve Zarelli is the man to ask here. I thought I would take a stab and try the Armstrong though. From this page, Astronaut Autopen Guide, I made the following overlay showing your example and one from the linked page - it appears "Autopen Pattern 4":

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Permalink Reply by Andrew McFadden on March 9, 2017 at 6:52pm

Thanks for your help! I have asked Steve to take a look at these.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on March 9, 2017 at 7:03pm

My pleasure (I wish the outcome were different of course). Steve has a universe of skill...skillS...in these areas.

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Permalink Reply by MN Autograph Collector on March 9, 2017 at 8:27pm

Unfortunately, they are all autopen signatures. You can find all of them on http://www.astroautopens.com.

The other way to tell is the hard stops at the end of each pen stroke. It creates a blob of ink where the pen stops and lifts off the paper. That telltale blob is visible in all the autographs of the scans you provided.

Other ways to identify autopen signatures is by the lack of variation in the width of the pen strokes and the often jittery appearance of the pen strokes.

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Permalink Reply by MN Autograph Collector on March 9, 2017 at 8:35pm

Oh, and yes, Steve Zarelli is the gold standard when it comes to space and aviation autograph authentication. I just got back two items I sent him this week, in fact. He's as professional and qualified as they come, and always a pleasure to deal with.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 10, 2017 at 3:44pm

I can't add much except to say, yep... these are Autopens.

That said, Autopen signed crew photos are considered NASA memorabilia. These have some value in that regard. I've seen the A-11 crew autopen sell for $50+

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Permalink Reply by MN Autograph Collector on March 10, 2017 at 3:49pm

Interesting, Steve. I've heard that some autopen lithos can maintain some value, but not being a collector of them, I've never paid attention to how much. I'm surprised that the A11 one would go that high. Any idea on the value of the A8 autopen litho?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 10, 2017 at 3:58pm

You might get $25 for a typical crew autopen. The A-8 is faded pretty bad though... not much value there.

Bear in mind, when someone passes away, they destroy the templates and no longer issue the Autopen. So they become limited.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew McFadden on March 10, 2017 at 4:46pm

Thank You Gentlemen for taking the time to look at these at give me your feedback.  When researching, I knew it would be a longshot to have the real signatures but I will just keep these and pass them along to my son.

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