We are an eBay affiliate and may be compensated for clicks on links that result in purchases.

Bono w/ JSA basic cert on Ebay

So, if I'm following correctly, the JSA Basic Cert is basically the "we don't want to pay much attention to this but here's your sticker anyway" type of authentication. I stumbled upon this last night. It's a mess. It doesn't even really look rushed - just bad. I'm trying to see what JSA was looking at here that would prompt them to give this a pass. I'm not seeing it. Bono has given more than his share of ugly/bizarre autographs in the past, but if it doesn't clearly exhibit his standard signing traits, you're authenticating it based on what?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rich on February 21, 2013 at 10:00pm

I'm actually not so sure it's Kevin's ebay account - could be that he sold the item to a less than knowledgable dealer. Still, it would appear he sold it - knowing it wasn't authentic - which isn't cool.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by kevin conway on December 29, 2012 at 2:59pm

By the way , I believe the UACC did a study years ago that about 85% of "mail" acquired autographs are secretarial signed. For many celebrities it is 100%. Some Never sign thru the mail period, i.e. Streisand, Sinatra, Brando, etc etc. Always expect a secretarial with mail autographs....

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anthony Bautista on December 29, 2012 at 4:22pm

The autograph looks to be authentic. It looks like the crap signature he gives out in crowds sometimes.

Here are few others that arent A typical Bonos

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by kevin conway on December 29, 2012 at 6:04pm

I'm not a music collector but based on your two exemplars, I have to disagree with you. When I studied Bob Hope's signature about 25 years ago, there was one very consistent differentiator between his secretarial and Genuine signature. It was the "B". His genuine always had the top of the B pointing upward. And this characteristic was always missing in his secretarial (among other things). Note same scenario with "B" here (among other things)? If in fact your two examples are Genuine exemplars.....?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rich on December 29, 2012 at 8:49pm

Anthony, good point about the rushed sig theory. I considered it briefly, but it doesn't feel like a good possibility when you look at how slowly the the JSA example was signed.

Here's my instant take upon seeing it: It's wouldn't unprecedented if it actually was authentic. Bono's signature, in a rush or crowd, can look a bit bizarre and stray from the classic style he's has from the mid-80's on. Even at the Barnes & Noble signing - a seated, controlled signing environment in which all of the band members actually signed very consistently, mind you - several of Bono's sigs looked a bit weird.

That being said, I still have no idea how JSA could pass this on the signature alone. Can they authenticate rushed sigs? Sloppy sigs? Autographs signed at a bizarre angle?

I showed this to a couple gentlemen from Eastlink who have met Bono several times and gotten many autographs themselves, in addition to seeing countless fan-obtained examples over the years. They both thought it was awful and didn't really seem interested in considering it as possibly authentic.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rich on December 29, 2012 at 9:02pm

Kevin, I believe the two above are indeed rushed, less than ideal but still authentic examples examples. I could be wrong, since they are hardly pristine exemplars - but they don't immediately strike me as being wrong. Still, I wouldn't jump at the opportunity to purchase them unless I really liked the price and had full confidence in the source.

I like this example posted by a fan on Eastlink's website. Good case of Bono giving just a weird looking sig despite ideal signing circumstances. Even so, his signing style does show a bit in the "o" and the "n."

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anthony Bautista on December 30, 2012 at 2:42am

I see your point. I still believe it to be genuine .

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rich on December 30, 2012 at 9:29am

Nice side by side, and I'm tempted to say that is more compelling evidence that it's authentic . . . But I've seen PSA mess up on these their share of times. There are one or two one ebay that are so bad that there's no way they should have a PSA sticker on them (much, much worse that what's above). I just don't think it's enough evidence to render it conclusively authentic. I guess JSA and PSA feel otherwise.

PSA blessed off on these, and I really don't think they should have. I'd be willing to bet the first one is fake, especially since the seller at one point had more than one that looked just like it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anthony Bautista on December 30, 2012 at 8:14pm

Ive gotten one just like the second pictured. I hear Psa is getting tough on those typ eof signautres. I heard they wont do Pacino , Beiber, Jennifer Lawrence. They also wouldnt do any of the Stallones he signed at the Expendables 2 premiere in Los Angeles.

Check this out : Its a Meg Ryan signed Baseball Psa authenticated. Sad thing is , thats how she signs.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anthony Bautista on December 30, 2012 at 8:16pm

Here is a Stallone frome the Premiere .

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rich on December 30, 2012 at 11:59pm

PSA really authenticated that crap? Ok . . . that sounds like the definition of blown credibility. I would actually PAY them for an explanation of how they can authenticate a smear.