Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eddie Anderson on October 11, 2013 at 9:08am

Wow, Beautiful penmanship she had.

Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on October 10, 2013 at 9:51pm

I agree that the seller seems reputable, but a seller's feedback number in and of itself doesn't really stand as a point of authentication for any given autograph. Even the best dealers have some mistakes slip through the cracks, while plenty of garbage dealers sprinkle in legit stuff from time to time.

It seems this seller is moving massive amounts of autographs from various large collections they've obtained. There's definitely a ton of thru-the-mail stuff that I can see. Like I said, I think this seller has good intentions, I would just question how carefully each and every piece has been vetted before listing.

Based on the exemplars you provided, I think yours is a fair match superficially, but as you yourself said, the marker used really obliterates any subtleties in the signature that could be used as good points of comparison.

I hope it's real too, but for the amount of money you paid, I would like to see a lot stronger/specific authentication/provenance than what I see in the listing. I would suggest you invest a few more dollars in sending this to a reputable third-party authenticator and see what they say about it. If it passes, then you can feel that much better about it. If it fails, it will at least give you a better leg to stand on if you decide to return it. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on October 10, 2013 at 10:30pm

All good points William, especially about how it should have been authenticated prior to sale. Maybe the seller didn't want to hear the answer. I also don't like how it appears the "S" looks shaky/gone over twice, but the picture isn't quite good enough to see for sure.

Lana, I guess the general consensus would be that PSA/DNA or James Spence are the top authenticators, though they aren't without their critics either. They are ebay approved (along with Global Authentics), if that means anything to you. I don't know if there might be another independent expert that would be more suitable for this particular signature. If anyone else knows of one, I hope they chime in.

You sound like you're trying very hard to convince yourself of its authenticity, and I don't mean that in a mean-spirited way. I hope you get a firm answer for yourself based on the opinions here and from whichever authenticator you choose.

Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on October 11, 2013 at 12:24am

Just because you regret spending $1000 on a questionable autograph doesn't give you the right to attack the people here. You asked for opinions and just because you got one you didn't want to hear, you rant about it? How immature.

If this autograph turns out not to be authentic, clearly nobody - not anybody here or any authenticator - will ever convince you of it anyway.

You're the one that's so desperately overanalyzed it trying to prove to yourself it's real, that you lash out at the merest suggestion that there's room for questions. Will you harangue the authenticator in this manner if they don't pass it? I suspect you would, so you might as well not waste any more money sending it in then. Enjoy!

Permalink Reply by wascher on October 11, 2013 at 4:13am

I would just get it authenticated if you question it.  You don't seem to want anyone "nitpicking" it.  Nitpicking (or actually studying it) is usually how forgeries are spotted.  Neither suggested it is a forgery though either.... they are just noting different things on the auto.

Since you don't want anyone to nitpick it, just send it in somewhere.

Wascher - moderator

Permalink Reply by Lana Alexandra on October 10, 2013 at 10:09pm

Who is the best authenticator I could send it to? I don't want to end up sending it to someone who would not be legit or wouldn't know what they were talking about.

To me, this does look enough like her signature for me to at least have hope that it is hers. I know how she signs her T's, and her S's sometimes, and I've seen her make an almost identicle type of H in a different signature I saw selling, once, by a different seller. Unfortunately, I am the same way. I sign my name a bit differently almost every time I sign it, and if I were famous, people would have a field day trying to figure out what is real, because it just looks different every time. Every autograph I've seen of hers varies a bit, but I DO however see many different elements in the one I bought, that I've seen in her autographs before. Plus, like I said, I have signed in marker and my handwriting looks nothing like it does in pen. She signs in cursive and cursive and markers just don't mix that well. I will want to authenticate it, to be safe. But, I don't think this signature is far off from what I've seen from Sharon by any means. It just doesn't look as detailed as her pen signatures. I never would have bought it if I didn't have faith that it at least looked a lot like her signature. I did pay a lot, and the seller does offer a money back offer, but I'd mostly just be heartbroken if it wasn't real. I disagree about it looking completely different from known signatures by her. I've followed her for years and years, and I know she just never signs her name the same way twice, and that's just the way she did it. I definitely see a lot of her handwriting in this, maybe just a bit rushed, and not as neat as her pen signed ones.

Permalink Reply by Lana Alexandra on October 10, 2013 at 10:27pm

Well, her sister Debra, is running her official fan club / blog, or co running it right now, and they are selling something called the 'signature collection' where Sharon's first name signature is printed on items, like posters, and such.

Here: http://www.cafepress.com/sharontate.5177558

I have seen her write her first name the way she did on the check example I showed, the way she does on my own personal autographed photo, and I have seen her sign it like this, as she does it in the signature collection, in other examples. All I'm saying is that, from what I've seen, she goes back and forth on how she writes. The signature collection, for example, being officially sold by her sister's fan club, looks different from many examples I saw on the web, as well, but I've still seen her sign her name that way before, in other listings and other examples. Whether these are legit examples or not, I don't know, but I've seen her sign her name in many ways other than how she signed them in the example of the check I showed. I've followed her autographs (real, not real, I don't know) for ten years or so now, and I've pretty much seen her write her name in many different variations. Unless I saw a bunch of fakes over the past ten years, I am pretty positive that she does alternate the way she writes her name, sometimes.

Permalink Reply by Lana Alexandra on October 10, 2013 at 10:59pm

I have inspected this under full zoom on photo shop, and no, I don't think any lines overlapped or that there was any intentional shakiness. The weirdness on the curve of the 'S' looks like it got the fatter bit of the marker for a moment, making it apppear thicker and blotchier.

I don't see any overlapping, just a small part where the marker's thicker part of the tip made it look a bit off, in one spot. I agree, though, that I wish this was authenticated, and I may return it just because, based off of what I'm hearing here, I feel very discouraged, now.

Thank you all for your input. I do think some of you are overanalyzing, though. If you look closely, it is very clear that there is no overlapping, just a spot where the marker's thicker side got used (on the S). Also, I don't know when markers were invented, etc. but honestly, I may just return this.

Thanks everyone. I'll be off to bed, now, and pondering what I'm going to do.

Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on October 11, 2013 at 5:43am

I have never seen a Sharon Tate signature until this thread. Just looking at the letter formation, slant, relative size of the letters, spacing etc, I would not rule out the possibility that this item is authentic.  You have nothing to lose, for your own piece of mind, send it to PSA or JSA and see how it comes out.

Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on October 11, 2013 at 4:21pm

I realize that the PSA/DNA Quick Opinion service is intended for active eBay listings, but can it be used for a recently completed listing?

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 11, 2013 at 4:30pm

Yes. You can use it for any online auction listing they can see the image of, even years later.

Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on October 11, 2013 at 4:34pm

Thanks, Steve. That might be a good option to consider in this case.

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