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Autograph's Johnny Cash Signature Study — Be Part of It!

Has there ever been a nicer, more humble, more fan friendly superstar than Johnny Cash?

Johnny was the Babe Ruth of Country Music—the top-ranking Country artist of all time and the most loved. And Johnny loved his fans as much as they love him. So while like the Babe, Cash signed untold numbers of autographs, the supply could never meet demand...and probably never will.

Fans who couldn't meet Cash in person often requested autographs through the mail. The common belief is that he personally autographed those requests. But between his demanding touring schedule and later, his failing health and vision, it seems impossible that he could have signed even half of the mail he received.

A growing number of collectors and dealers now believe that many if not most Johnny Cash through the mail autographs were secretarial. We want to see if we can identify any secretarial styles, and at the same time build a reference collection of no-question genuine Cash exemplars to help identifying forgeries.

Are There Johnny Cash Secretarials?
If So, How Do We Identify Them?
Help Find Out!

You can be an important part of the study in three ways:

Upload into this discussion images of Johnny Cash autographs that you personally received through the mail, and tell us when you received them. (The year is fine, but if you know the date, even better.)
Upload images of Johnny's autographs that YOU saw signed by Johnny yourself. Include the date or at least year, too. If you didn't see it signed yourself (like pre-signed ones sold or given away at shows), please don't upload it.
As more and more images are uploaded, see if you can identify characteristics that are commonly found on Johnny's through the mail autographs that are rarely if ever seen on ones signed in person.

With your help, we can identify Cash secretarials if they're out there. Over time this should increase the value of genuine Johnny Cash autographs, and help protect future fans and collectors against autographs that aren't authentic.

Once we finish this phase of the study, we'll go on to identifying genuine Johnny Cash autographs from forgeries.

Let's go!

Tags: Johnny, autographs, cash, genuine, mail, secretarial, the, through

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by JJKANDLAK on November 4, 2011 at 4:44pm

I picked up a Johnny Cash signed album on eBay today for $65. First I ran it past the "quick opinion" services of Roger Epperson as well as PSA/DNA and both came back as "authentic." Seller had it at $100 or best offer. I initially offered $50 and seller countered at $65.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 4, 2011 at 4:47pm

JJ--I had that same auction bookmarked as one that I was considering (because I thought it looked good)...I just didn't care too much for the album cover photo! Good for you! Right now I'm hoping to get the same news on my recent purchase, as I just sent it to Roger as well. Let me know what you think!

Brenda

Attachments: No photo uploads here

Cover.jpg, 93 KB

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Permalink Reply by JJKANDLAK on November 4, 2011 at 5:08pm

Agreed..not the greatest album cover but I thought it was a good opportunity fro the price.

I'm no authenticity expert..have collected off and on for many years. However I really like the idea that for a nominal fee($15)Roger Epperson and PSA/DNA($7.49) I can get a "quick opinion" before I purchase anything online. I feel $22.49 was a pretty cheap investment for "peace of mind" before I made the purchase. I see there are lots of Cash items on eBay now and I would have to say that a hefty asking price doesn't guarantee authenticity. Years ago I owned one of the "House Of Cash" limited edition signed photos(the one with the purple background) and the HOC letter. Was #'d of 500 or so in pencil on the back. Sold it for a pretty good profit several years ago on eBay and now wish I had held onto it.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 4, 2011 at 5:36pm

Well, Roger says mine is secretarial. I give up.

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Permalink Reply by JJKANDLAK on November 4, 2011 at 5:47pm

Brenda-

Sorry to hear that yours was a secretarial.

Nice thing about eBay is that there seems to be a lot of newly listed Johnny Cash items showing up and there will be other opportunities and potential bargains out there. Must be the bad economy with the amount of newly listed Cash items.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 4, 2011 at 5:51pm

Thanks JJ...I'm just so frustrated and gunshy at this point that I'm almost ready to lay out the $750.00 and buy one of Johnny's hand-signed, "Flight," prints, simply because I KNOW it's the real deal. (Not quite at that point yet, but almost!). I feel terrible, telling Peggy that the item I bought from her isn't really Johnny's. In fact, I pretty much feel like a schmuck.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Sledz on November 4, 2011 at 6:51pm

TOO MUCH... He isn't going for more than 400-450 in a good 8x10 .. Don't get bilked...

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on November 4, 2011 at 6:35pm

Sorry to hear about the verdict. I had a feeling. Now, at least, you know. I happened to see the piece on eBay you purchased. There are a lot of genuine Johnny Cash pieces in that price range. I have complete confidence that you could find another piece before Christmas for a lot less than the $750 number.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda McLeod on November 4, 2011 at 6:48pm

Brick--feel free to shoot any suggestions my way (if you're bored and surfing and run across something interesting in the $200.00 range). Thanks! brendamcleod at zoominternet dot net.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Sledz on November 4, 2011 at 6:52pm

I second!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Robert Sledz on November 4, 2011 at 6:48pm

I am not so sure that this is secretarial. You aught to get more points of view. The C is nice and fluid...not thinned up...The J is full....I am not so sure this is secretarial although I am not a pro...I do collect over 400 autographs and when I started I got quite a few of these. Since that time I put up one here that was indeed a secretarial but very readily recognized...This one, I just wouldn't be too sure.. Please...I would encourage you to get it checked by more than a couple flks.. I could be wrong.. These guys here see a lot ...But I know a guy who could give you a good look.. PM me.. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 5, 2011 at 4:57am

If I had to make a guess... the cover does not have the right leaning slant the authentic photos tend to have. It's pretty apparent in the C. Bear in mind, the secretarials tend to be more straight up and down, which this cover is.