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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 18, 2019 at 12:50pm

Shoeless Joe Jackson signatures are extremely rare. At one point only a few were known. It may be around 10 now.

I don't recall any studies done but there may be. Heritage Auctions sold a signed photo for $179,000 back in 2015.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on October 18, 2019 at 12:53pm

Jackson was illiterate.  The only way he could sign his name was to copy it from one his wife would sign. He would then draw it.  If you look at authentic versions, you can see how shaky they are because of this.

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Permalink Reply by Brian To terrier8HOF on October 18, 2019 at 1:18pm

Thanks Steve/Terrier.. these are two examples I found on the web.  Does anyone know if these are authentic examples?

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Permalink Reply by Brian To Brian on October 18, 2019 at 1:40pm

One additional one I found which appears to have the features Terrier spoke about.  Would be interested in hearing thoughts from others.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin To Brian on October 18, 2019 at 4:32pm

The contract cut (if it's a cut or just a crop) has what I think is clearly Charles Comiskey's signature. The Joe Jackson signature looks very much like the others I've seen with strong provenance.

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Permalink Reply by Brian To Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 18, 2019 at 5:23pm

Thanks Steve.. I think the top photo is the one you mentioned from Heritage.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin To Brian on October 18, 2019 at 6:05pm

Yes, it is.

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