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Permalink Reply by DP on December 2, 2014 at 2:37pm

It is my understanding that they are when someone takes an autographed item and just cuts the signature out of it. It could be from a letter, photo, document, cheque, etc. as examples. Not as desireable as there is no context to the signature any more.

The only time I would look at one of these is if nothing else is available or based on price. Just not all that exciting to me. Some will pair them with a photograph of the individual and will frame it together. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Gen Marengère on December 2, 2014 at 2:40pm

thanks so much for the reply, now i get it!  however, why in the world would someone do that?  i would think that if the signature is real, the document (or whatever) would be real also, so wouldn't the whole be more valuable than the sum of its parts?

like i said, i'm still learning and i'm just trying to make sense of why a "cut" even exists.

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Permalink Reply by DP on December 2, 2014 at 2:44pm

I agree I would not do this. Some have even taken historical letters and cut words from them with the philosophy that the price they sell them for individually add up to more than the value as a whole. I believe this has been done with historical figures such as Lincoln and Washington.

Some created cuts as the signature was viewed as the most important part so sometimes it was just removed and the rest discarded (in the past). This I feel wrecks the whole context to an item and which makes an item unique and interesting.

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Permalink Reply by Gen Marengère on December 2, 2014 at 2:52pm

i completely agree.  the whole setup seems really wrong, somehow, especially when you mention presidents; those historic documents that were "cut" would probably have fetched more as a whole.  being canadian, i don't have as much invested in your presidents, but i know that lincoln and washington were important to your history, and just...  wow.  i'm going to stay away from cuts if i can help it!

thanks so much for all the info, this has been really helpful!  :)

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Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on December 2, 2014 at 4:20pm

a cut is a great way to peddle a fake, that's what they are.

Cut your hair and just stay the he** away from ALL CUTS, especially cold cuts, the nitrates will kill you and so will the fakes

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Permalink Reply by James on December 2, 2014 at 10:31pm

Here's another tidbit. I believe that signed index cards are also considered "cuts", generally anyway, even though they exist in and of themselves, and weren't "cut" from anything. From what I understand, it was fairly common practice years ago to get celebrity autographs on index cards. Also, fans would sometimes get autographs in small notepad booklets. These are also considered cuts. I have a Ronald Reagan autograph that my mother got in-person in 1976. All she had for him to sign was a small piece of scrap paper, about 3x5. It too would be considered a cut. She gave it to me when I was 11 years old and said, "Save this. He might be President some day." Well, 38 years later, I've still got my "cut" of Ronald Reagan, and I treasure it even more since my best friend, my mom, passed away in January.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on December 3, 2014 at 10:00am

I do not consider index cards or album pages "cuts" unless they are trimmed down from their original size.

I avoid cuts like the plaque because they are the forger's best friend. They will get on old book with age appropriate paper and use the end pages to work their dark craft. When one is "close enough," it gets cut out and marketed as a cut.

Granted there are authentic cuts from letters or scraps of paper, but a high percentage of them are fakes because it's a lot easier finding an old book with blank paper than a really old photo or document that would be appropriate for the person in question.

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Permalink Reply by James on December 3, 2014 at 2:03pm

Thanks, Steve. I wasn't absolutely certain about how index cards were regarded. But now I just recently saw a PSA/DNA autograph encapsulated that is designated "index card" and not "cut". Thanks for clarifying that. I also recently saw an entire sheet of typing paper that was autographed on the upper half, and In their letter PSA/DNA called it a cut! Maybe it is thought of as a "pre-cut", lol.

And I do agree with you about cut signatures. The only way I would buy one is if it were authenticated by PSA or JSA. But I would still have to convince myself.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Soberg on December 3, 2014 at 7:40am

The reason they do "cuts" is typically the photo was personalized which renders it near valueless. Cut out the sig and frame and mount it then you have a piece you can sell. Also people who go to book signings will cut out the autograph and frame and mount it. I'll give you an example. Buzz Aldrin does a free book signing at barnes and it is cheaper to do a cut of his auto from the book than to go to an actual signing where he charges 500 bucks.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on December 3, 2014 at 9:57am

Buzz has picked up on this and now usually signs over the title of the book rather than on the plain white background.

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Permalink Reply by James on December 3, 2014 at 2:10pm

Personalization certainly doesn't render a piece near valueless. I've seen personalized JFK photos sell for $5000. In fact, with a lot of older movie stars, your best bet for a real autograph is to get one that is personalized. It can bring down the value, but generally I think it's anywhere from 20% to 50%. For me personally, an autograph that is personalized doesn't bother me very much at all.

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