Comment by josh on November 16, 2014 at 12:15pm

oh my. very impressive.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 16, 2014 at 12:37pm

Besides that the first Sharpie came out in 1964, the year after JFK died, the autograph on that program is supposed to resemble JFK's? 

The Babe Ruth at least resembles Ruth's signature.

Comment by James on November 16, 2014 at 2:27pm

Thanks, Josh. And Steve, I do understand your concern about the JFK signature, but felt-tip markers were being used quite a bit by 1958. The magic marker (not Sharpie) was invented in 1952. I've seen other authentic JFK's signed with a felt-tip marker. As for the signature itself, there is a discussion in the Presidential Group. I just put the pic up because I finally made my last payment to the seller, John Ink (a member), and took possession. But this was JFK's "campaign" signature, a little different from some other styles he had.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 16, 2014 at 3:22pm

I'm sorry, this signature caught me by surprise. Have some presidential experts seen it? Like John Reznikoff? I've never seen one like it here and not in marker.

Comment by James on November 16, 2014 at 4:42pm

No, I don't think anyone like Reznikoff has looked at it. Two members here, Scott Paul and Lee Leibold, looked at it and thought it was good. I got the impression Lee was a JFK collector. Also, there is a book on authentic JFK signatures, and this one matches up well with an example of his "campaign" style from 1960. There are fewer examples of this type though because apparently he used this style during campaigning in 1960. Also, this came from an estate sale in a house one block from the high school that JFK appeared at on Oct. 22, 1960 in Prairie Village, Kansas. So I think the provenance is pretty good. And I have seen a couple of other similar examples that sold on eBay, one authenticated by PSA/DNA and the other by JSA. I am thinking of sending it in to PSA/DNA, however.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 17, 2014 at 10:57pm

James,

I'm sorry to have to say this, but I'm very concerned about the authenticity of your JFK autograph, and your Babe Ruth. I asked a friend who is quite good on JFK and he didn't think it was good. I haven't shown the Babe Ruth to anyone, and I'm not an expert on him, but I've never seen a genuine one like it.

You said you bought the JFK from a member of this site. Who was it? There's a good chance you'll need to get your money back.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 17, 2014 at 10:58pm

I'm sorry, I see you mentioned the member was John Ink.

Comment by James on November 18, 2014 at 1:09am

Steve, thanks for your concern. The Babe Ruth is PSA/DNA authenticated. It is very bold, I will say. In fact, it's probably the boldest I've ever seen. I'll get back with you later on the JFK. Got to go to bed. :)

Comment by Chad B on November 18, 2014 at 8:23am

I've never seen a JFK like that either. The Babe is awesome looking.

Comment by Trevor Song on December 4, 2014 at 6:21pm

I will chime in and say, yes, that is a real JFK autograph despite the lack of documentation about that variant of his signature.  I should know - my JFK autograph looks almost like his!  I had my JFK autograph checked out by TWO different parties (including PSA DNA) and they all said it was genuine. I have a thread about this signature style somewhere in the forum.

I am weary of all other JFK autographs because of the number of fakes that are out there.

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