So, you just spent a few hundred dollars on an autograph, and wonder if it's real. Sure, there's a letter of authenticity, but so what. You spend your night Googling for other examples of the signature, and they don't seem to match up the way you'd prefer.

Well, this sort of thing happens in all collecting fields.

A perfect example is what went down in Amsterdam recently.

The Dutch national museum had a rock that was supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts. It was on display for a while, but an investigation was done, and the rock from the moon turned out to be.....(insert drum roll sound effects here)....a petrified piece of wood.

The museum got the piece after Prime Minister Willem Dress passed away in 1988. He received it as a privage gift in 1969 from then-U.S. ambassador J. William Middendorf during a visit by three Apolla 11 astronauts. This was during their "Giant Leap" goodwill tour.

NASA told the museum that 100 moon rocks were given to various countries in the early 70s, but this was after the original moon landing.

With autographs, this is the equivalent of getting a signed baseball from one of the owners of the team, only to find out later it is fake. And that the owner may have given the ball to a batboy or trainer to get signed, and at that point, who knows what happened. Or if another player decided to be funny and sign his teammates names. Believe me, I've heard it all. And from the players mouths themselves.

The best part is that the museum is still going to keep the piece, saying it makes for a good story.