Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 17, 2026 at 9:53am

Hi Josh, I liked the set too when I first saw it. In fact, I REALLY liked the set. As time went on, however, I became increasingly bothered by a few things. I've outlined my more general concerns above but I'll try to get down to a more micro level within the next few days. Obviously the item in question has already been sold so time is not really of the essence.     

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 17, 2026 at 11:09pm

I said I would look at some details within the OP that bother me. There are actually a great number of them but for the time being I'll just mention three of the most critical ones in Jimi's autograph. I'm basing my views on the first three pages of RR Auction's sold lots for Jimi Hendrix sorted by "high bid" and "Groovy Script's" (now quite old) autograph study "The autographs of Jimi Hendrix".  

1. The "im" in Jimi: I cannot find another example where the transition from the "i" to the "m" forms an "X" quite as it does in the OP.

2. The tail before the second upright of "H" in Hendrix. Very few of these uprights have tails at all but if they do they are really tiny and the vast majority (including all the RR examples I believe) start from the right. In March 2014 RR sold an example ("to Janet") for just over $20k in which Jimi didn't lift his pen when going from the first to the second upright in the "H". This shows how he came in from the right on the second upright. 

3. The "n" in "Hendrix". The "n" invariably starts with a definite straight upright line sloping slightly to the left followed by a softer pyramid (as Groovy Script calls it). In the OP there is no clear straight upright line at the beginning and what there is slopes more to the right.

So there are three of what I think are pretty clear anomalies. I can certainly list more but what do people think about these three?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on September 18, 2026 at 6:15pm

Here’s a somewhat similar “I” to “M” transition, although the “IMI” portion of the OP is more compressed.

An example of the “H” in which the second upright line doesn’t start from the right:

and a good set for comparison:

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 19, 2026 at 4:28am

Hi Ballroom, thanks for those examples. I did see at least one similar to the first one you posted (maybe the same one in fact) but I didn't think it matched the OP. No "X" effect". The second one you posted is very untypical but does look real, if scrappy. What I'd query here is why Jimi lifted his pen briefly in the OP but not in your example. The third one you posted is interesting but seems to follow the normal rules, except perhaps for the very upright and tightly packed "imi".

I guess there is almost always going to be at least one other example of an exception to a rule but is it likely that a single autograph would contain a multitude of pretty key exceptions? The three I've mentioned are not the only exceptions either. I will try to list a few more within the next day or two.   

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 20, 2026 at 8:05am

Here are some more unusual features in Jimi's autograph. These are either more subjective or less exceptional than the others already mentioned but add to the weight of evidence against Jimi's autograph being real.

1. The crossing of the "J" is unusually long, as already mentioned.

2. The back stroke at the foot of the "J" is unusually rounded. Normally the curve is much flatter.

3. The "imi" and "Hen" are less in line with the angle of the "J" than they usually are. They normally slope more to the left than they do in the OP.

4. The two uprights in the "H" show almost no bow-like curvature. The Groovy Script study suggests that 75% of genuine Jimi's have some kind of bow curvature to the uprights.  

As I said, these unusual features are probably less exceptional than the others already mentioned  but it seems strange that there are so many unusual features in one autograph. Add to that the unusual way that Noel has signed and the unusual inscription by Mitch - which also doesn't seem to fit in the context of the other inscriptions and the age of the recipient - and we would have a truly exceptional set of autographs if they were to be real. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on September 20, 2026 at 8:34am

Here’s a comparison of the ‘J” to the one from the set I posted. I would say that the crossbars of the “J”s are similar in length. Also there’s just a small incidental amount of space between the I and M that prevents it from having the same “X” effect that you mentioned.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 20, 2026 at 10:50am

Thanks Ballroom, that comparison set is pretty unusual too in places (e.g. the "rix") but I presume it has been authenticated. The crossing of the "J" is as long as in the OP but, as I said, my latest crop of anomalies are probably less exceptional than the others - but still pretty exceptional. I'm not so convinced about the "imi" being similar. The "i" is very different in terms of the long and curvy lead-in "tail" and the angle of the upward stroke as it heads towards the "m".  

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page