I am starting this in hopes people will add their real Andy Griffith autographs and the Linke "secretarial" ones for comparison.  Since the death of Andy Griffith I have noticed a growing appreciation of the man and actor.  He was much more than just "Andy Taylor" his range from comedy to drama was great.  I suspect his popularity will increase partly because of TCM showing some of his dramatic and comic performances. 

In this study if you scroll down the comments you will find links to Andy Griffith's four appearances as a "Mystery Guest" on the television game show What's My Line? in 1958, 1959,1965 and 1967.  There are captures of his signature as he signed in below also. 

With Andy Griffith autographs it is not so much the forgeries, since the value has not quite reached the level to make it worthwhile, but "secretarial" signatures that are the problem.  The "secretary" generally was Richard O. Linke a producer who worked with Griffith for many years.  It is hoped that people will submit genuine autographs from checks or other sources as well as any "fake" ones.  The more there is for comparison the better our understanding of the nuances in his signature.

For many years the "Linke" autographs were considered real much in the same way that the "Challton Heston" signatures were.  An old respected collector many years ago told me that most of the Andy Griffith autographs were suspect.  At that time it was assumed a secretary was signing.  Based on what my friend told me I never actually owned an Andy Griffith autograph until I bought checks on eBay a few years ago!  The work that Gary Wedemeyer and Frank Johnson are doing to educate people on the subject of the "Linke" autographs is very valuable.  Like most TAGS collectors they have a great passion for the subject.  I would like to thank them for their efforts.

The first is the signature of a very young Andy Griffith at age 18.  This comes from the World War II draft registration form that was signed by Andy Griffith.  I have never seen an earlier example of his signature although no doubt some exist.    The original is in the National Archives so in a way this is an Andy Griffith autograph that we all own!