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While it would require far more than a single article to educate the autograph collector to detect Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio forgeries, there are some general as well as specific warning keys to these three autographs that may aid in detecting possible forgeries.
Genuine Mantle, Williams & DiMaggio signed photo provided by EAC Gallery.
Click to enlarge:
As a general rule, one of the first things I examine in an autograph is its feel – how it was written. When an individual signs his name there should be an easy, smooth flow to the signature. We’ve all signed our names countless times, and we don’t need to think about it. An item we offered in one of our past auctions was a sheet of paper signed several times by Joe Jackson. Jackson, who was almost completely illiterate, actually had to practice, in essence work at, writing his name prior to signing documents. Likewise, when a forger writes a signature, he or she is working at it and therefore upon close examination it’s often possible to detect such warning keys as a slowness of motion, stops and starts at inappropriate spots, and possibly even a shakiness in the writing. An invaluable aid to help detect these keys, taught to me by John Reznikoff of University Archives many years ago, is to turn the autograph upside down. When you view an autograph in an unnatural position these warning keys are often easier to detect.
In addition to such general warning keys there are specific warning keys, unique to an individual’s autograph, to keep an eye out for.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s Mickey Mantle stated on numerous occasions that he was blessed to be able to earn more money signing his name at one single weekend show than his father had earned in an entire year working as a coal miner. Because of this Mantle always felt his fans were deserving of a clear, elegant signature. In authentic Mickey Mantle autographs Mickey would always end the “y” in “Mickey” on an upswing, and because he would be quickly flowing through his signature, he therefore started the “M” in “Mantle” on a higher level or plane than he had started the “M” in “Mickey”. Most forgers, because they were “working” on writing Mantle’s signature, would pause after completing “Mickey” and begin anew in writing “Mantle”, therefore placing “Mantle” on more of a straight line with “Mickey”. If one places a ruler or sheet of paper straight across the item Mantle signed (not straight across the signature) all that appears below the ruler or paper of an authentic Mantle is the bottom portion of the “M” in “Mickey”. In the case of most forgeries the ruler or paper completely covers the entire signature. Another difficulty forgers have with Mantle’s signature was his unique way of looping the bottom portion of his “M”. Such curved lines were executed in one easy movement by Mantle, but are most often elongated by forgers who again are “working” the signature. Such slow, elongated forgeries are especially easy to recognize on baseballs as their curved surfaces only add to the forger’s difficulty.
In the case of Ted Williams autographs, with the exception of the capital “W” in Williams, Ted would consistently make the size of all the letters in his last time nearly the same exact size. Most telling is the “illia”, with the “l”s just ever so slightly taller than the “i”s, and the “a” as tall as the “l”s. Try as they may, most forgers simply can’t undo years of training and habit causing their “l”s to be significantly taller than their “i”s, and their “a” significantly shorter than their “l”s. Williams also connected the “W” in “Williams” to the “ed” in “Ted” with a swirl that gave forgers difficulty in replicating in the same, easy, flowing movement as appears in authentic examples. Also of interest, in addition to the many Williams intentional forgeries in existence, Williams revealed late in his life that during his playing days his signature on team signed balls was often a “clubhouse” example, not penned by him.
Regarding Joe DiMaggio’s autograph, problems for forgers begin with the first letter in Joe. Like the “M”s in Mantle’s autograph, the “J” in “Joe”, which appears as two loops, a larger loop on top and a smaller one below, were created by curved lines which are the hardest to duplicate without leaving telltale signs of slowness or inappropriate stops and starts. In addition, DiMaggio would pen his “J”s so that the lower loop would be written on top of (literally written over) the upper loop in two places. For some inexplicable reason, a significant percentage of DiMaggio forgeries flow in the opposite direction, with the upper loop covering the lower one. An inexpensive magnifier or jeweler’s loop will aid in viewing this detail. Finally, the general feel of an authentic DiMaggio autograph is often somewhat sloppy, in the sense that the spacing between letters is uneven, obviously much more so in his second name. Again due to the fact that forgers are working rather than simply signing, the spacing they place between each letter is far more uniform.
Finally, the age-old adage “experience is the best teacher” is indeed appropriate here. The building of as extensive a library of exemplars as possible, of both authentic and fake examples, would be of help to visualize these and additional warning keys, and tremendously assist in the detection of forgeries.
Tags: authenticate, baseball, dimaggio, fame, forgeries, forgers, genuine, hall, hof, joe, More…mantle, mickey, of, ted, williams
The seller is only asking $20,000 for this piece-of-crap Mickey Mantle forgery.
This particular Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller cjh756drums2.
The sellers writes "I AM SELLING THIS MYSELF- BECAUSE I HAVE HAD BAD OUTCOMES WITH SPORTS AUCTION HOUSES." Too funny.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1951-MICKEY-MANTLE-signed-8x10-photo-very-R...
Here's another set of Mickey Mantle & Ted Williams forgeries on a baseball.
This set of Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams forgeries are listed by EBay seller ecrub49.
The COA is from "Just Rookies II." Hundreds of these forgeries have COAs from "Just Rookies II."
Click on the images to get a closer view.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TED-WILLIAMS-MICKEY-MANTLE-AUTOGRAPHED-RAWL...
Here's another disgusting Mickey Mantle forgery.
This Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller mattandjoy2000.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-x10-MICKEY-MANTLE-Blue-Sharpie-Auto-Autog...
Click on the images to get a closer view.
Look at this horrific Mickey Mantle forgery on a baseball.
This Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller johnnybcollectibles.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Autographed-Baseball-/2211767...
Please click on the images to get a closer view.
Here's another Mickey Mantle forgery where the seller (westernbob02) is using a "Scoreboard" COA to legitimize a forgery.
This Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller westernbob02.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Framed-Photo-Of-Mickey-Mantle-Yankees-Autog...
Click on the images to get a closer view.
Here's another Mickey Mantle forgery.
This Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller yodah65.
EBay seller yodah65 is only asking $500.00 for this piece -of-crap forgery.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Signed-AUTO-8x10-Photo-Matted...
Click on the images to get a closer view.
Here's another pathetic Mickey Mantle forgery on a baseball.
This Mickey Mantle forgery on a baseball is listed by EBay seller fanhqstore-com.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Signed-Official-American-Leag...
Click on the images to get a closer view.
Here's another Mickey Mantle forgery.
This Mickey Mantle forgery is listed by EBay seller khop9112kevin.
This piece-of-crap Mickey Mantle forgery comes with COAs from Kit Young Cards and Madison Sports.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICKEY-MANTLE-AUTOGRAPH-SPORTS-RECORD-33-1-...
Click on images to get a closer view.
Funny. The advertise Kit Young as if this person is a respected dealer. Same seller has a $10.99 Jeter and a $10.99 Dale Sr and Jr signed photos with a joke COA. Hmmmm. Looks like they fishing for suckers...
Kit Young is a respected dealer. If you look at the date on the cert, it was 10 years ago. Back then, I am sure a lot of us would have thought that Mantle was authentic.
Maybe to some.
Just from my experience with them, I dont think so.
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