JFK Autograph

Hi everyone,

In 2003, I bought a JFK autograph on ebay. The seller who I got it from was not be one of those "reputable autograph dealers" - just an average person selling stuff. He said to me that this autograph was obtained personally by someone he knew, who got it in 1960. In fact, the business card that has the autograph has the exact date on where and when it was obtained (I checked with the JFK Library some years later after I bought it and while they could confirm he was around the area at the time, they couldn't verify this exact location).

Being that I purchased this from ebay, I questioned this autograph a little. This was when there was hardly any protection to people who bought autographs on ebay (quick opinion from PSA didn't exist in 2003). Also, the autograph looked different from most common examples out there. I understand there are too many fakes/secretarial signatures of JFK out there. As a result, I had this checked out by two different people/places - one guy (name withheld), appeared reputable enough to me. He said, in his opinion, it is genuine. Just recently, the other place, PSA DNA, checked it out. They said, in their opinion, it is genuine.

I would like to show the autograph to you. You'll notice that this autograph does not look like most of the typical JFK autograph out there. The J is very different.

I also know it's possible that some of you might consider this autograph I bought is a fake and that both the individual and PSA/DNA made a terrible mistake. However, before any of you draw such a conclusion, I do want to bring your attention to another JFK autograph I saw for sale online (by what appears to be a reputable autograph dealer). Please check it out in the link below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOHN-F-KENNEDY-MAGAZINE-COVER-SIGNED-CO-SIG...

I bring this up because I have seen a lack of information and detail about this autograph style. Aside from the example from the link and the one I own, I have not seen another one like it. Is this autograph style already mentioned in any of the books on JFK autographs? I don't own any of them, but I heard they are out there. I also didn't see this autograph style in the University Archives videos. I am sure I didn't buy a fake (given that I had it checked out twice) but I am curious about whether any of you seen this signature variant anywhere else.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on November 16, 2013 at 6:22pm

Thanks for your insight William. I realize it's difficult to determine if an autograph is real or not, especially if we weren't there to see it happen. It's also hard to determine this with JFK, given there are variant styles of his signature. I find it odd I got this autograph that compares to little examples out there - and that magazine I found that is for sale by History For Sale is the only one that comes close.

I'm going to guess that the individual and PSA DNA both have seen other examples of this autograph before. I believe after going through the authentication process twice with genuine results, I believe it is real. It's a shame there isn't a public database to see all of the examples - but I guess that's why we pay the money for their opinions.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on November 16, 2013 at 6:18pm

I have never seen this variation of JFK's autograph but my guess is that it was signed while he was moving and was a very rushed example. PSA/DNA likely has many exemplars and obviously has one/some that approximate this autograph. I wouldn't worry too much about its authenticity. It is not however a highly desirable example and the medium is not that great either. It is still likely worth a lot more than you paid for it in 2003 and with the PSA/DNA LOA it is easily sellable if you ever desire to do so.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on November 16, 2013 at 10:24pm

Hi Randy,

I guess seeing that "History For Sale" has an identical example for sale and PSA DNA gave an opinion that mine is likely genuine, I'm not that worried about it being fake - I do believe it is the real deal. However, I'm puzzled about why there isn't much mention about this autograph style anywhere? Surely if PSA DNA is authenticating and passing an item like this, then I bet they have seen examples close to this before. I know PSA DNA has been argued to have made errors in the past, but I highly doubt they would make an error THIS BIG given the highly unusual J in John.

I disagree with you about the medium because it is on the back of a business card. It's durable and reliable. I don't think it'll be brittle like paper anytime soon. You're right - probably this example is not desirable to some, and that's fine. I'll keep the unique item :-)

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Permalink Reply by James Stone on January 9, 2014 at 6:06pm

Its real or at least matches real examples quite well. Get Andreas Wiemer's JFK autograph study. Plenty of in person examples from 1960 that looks just like this. Example #240 matches almost perfectly.

Must remember JFK signed his name different all the time.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on January 9, 2014 at 7:45pm

thank you for the info James.

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Permalink Reply by James Stone on January 10, 2014 at 5:58am

Sure, No problem. Attached is example #240 from the book and it looks just like yours. Keep in mind that all sigs in the book are verified as JFK's. So you can rest well knowing you got a real one. Many JFK fakes out there, yours is not.

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