Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 11:09am

Ok, here we go. See the five PSA Certified JFK Letters from period 1949-1952. when the letter of reference above was signed. And the finale, the May 24, 1951 PSA Certified Letter, signed 14 days after my letter. If anyone does not see this as dead match (including the elusive "y") , I'll eat my laptop, and the table it sits on.

And, here it is the May 24 1951 PSA Letter

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 11:11am

Opps, here are the other which didn't post below:

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 11:16am

John ,

NO need for apology.  I appreciate your help already given. I am having fun doing this, not to mention an amazing education.   I am just a bit obsessed with confirming authenticity when I feel strongly about it.   Maybe I spend too much time on it...;}    But when I sell such an item to a client I want them to now I do my homework.

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 12:06pm

 

It seems the reason these early signatures are so elusive is because JFK letters in the 1949-1951 time period are relatively scarce and hence the examples don't appear on the market often.  Out of about 40-50 PSA letters I just viewed only two were in that time period. The majority are late 50's/early 60's.

Comment by john reznikoff on January 11, 2011 at 4:57pm

Very close. Enough for me to raise to a 7! Well done.

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 5:33pm

So here is the dilemma. My client brought the letter to PSA to the SportMemorabilia show in San Jose this past weekend and whoever the sports authenticatorwas said “probably secretarial”.

 

I won’t go into what I think about the speedy  “drive-thru” PSA setups at Sport Memorabilia Shows, will take that up in the PSA Discussion (BTW I believe in 3^rd party).    But, of course because of the 10 minute PSA “Show Analysis” deeming it “probably secretarial” PSA unfortunately doesn’t do the “right thing” and opt out of opinion. Instead, they charge the $100 and fail it based on most likely a guess by someone evidently with not a high level of Non-sports (i.e. historical) expertise.  And, I have to issue a refund because all my client knows is it failed PSA.    I am sure some of you have beenin this position?  Any ideas?

Comment by john reznikoff on January 11, 2011 at 6:57pm

I have been in that position and am sympathetic. As I have said before, I have no special treatment, rubber stamps, or magic wand of any kind at PSA....but .....print out this blog and send it with a letter to PSA. Also, attach a scan to my personal email and I will opine on your behalf and you can forward to whoever at PSA looks at these things. Perhaps they will reverse.

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 7:31pm

It's the third time this has happened in past couple years.  Maybe in our lifetime we will see a more consistent and higher grade process.  Thanks John.

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 7:55pm

Travis,

I've been waiting for you.   I have stated several times (and have written a number of articles) that I believe 3rd party authen5ticaiton is needed, even if I am a vicitm of some of the obvious flaws of the process.   

 

In this scenario however, I am in 100% agreement with you about the "Sport Show" temp setup, for exactly the reasons you have cited.  I actually cringe when I go to a show here in Boston (the Big Willmington for example) and watch JSA or PSA accepting autographs like a hamburger concession stand.  I think I even hear them often ask  "do you want to Biggie Size that?" .  

But, a major flaw in the business of authentication and ammunition (and unfortunately valid)  for the PSA/JSA bashers.

 

Travis it reminds me of when I was in Navy Boot camp.   Because they simulated at war scenarios all the time I remember we all had to get our wisdom teeth removed in a makeshift dental office.  So instead of going to a competent dentist, in a clean office with all the equipment and skilled personnel, we stood in like an assembly line, waited our turn, sat in a chair, shot our mouths with Novocaine and two very young dental technicians (NOT Dentists) reached in with pliers and began twisting and turning my wisdom teeth, and then dropped one down my throat.  The other kid (we were all about 18-19) grabs my throats and says don't swallow. The other guy then takes a pair of needle noise pliers and goes deep into my windpipe and pulls out the tooth.  I was lucky, the next guy in back of me, they slipped and sliced his lip open and needed about 5 stitches.    Since then I've had a very low tolerance for sub par competence or "cutting corners".

Comment by kevin conway on January 11, 2011 at 8:06pm

Travis,

Re: "If people insist on getting an opinion on their piece at a show, what they need to start doing is going to the counter and saying "I intend to submit this Kennedy signature, and I would like to know who behind that curtain will see this piece and what are his or her qualifications for opining on such a signature""

Funny you say that.  When my client said he was bringing this to a Sport Show the RED FLAG went up. So I specifically modified my COA, below.  However, of course when he brought that message to the show they ignored his request.  Below is the exact paragraph I added to the COA to address the potentially inept sport show authenticaiton process.

"Thank you for visiting our web site.  We appreciate having you as a customer ofextraordinary historical memorabilia. This is great piece of history.  A genuine John Kennedy signed letter as Congressmanof Massachusetts. .    We have collected and studied his signature for over 25 years and guarantee this is HIS Genuine signature and not that of a secretary or autopen machine.  If you have this PSA’d or JSA’d  I highly suggest you request an Experienced historical authenticator that is well versed with Charles Hamilton’s JFK Signature study“A Robot that Made a President” "

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