LAMINATED Autographs - Acceptable Or Not?

I'd enjoy hearing feedback on this topic. Let's say it's a very rare signer whom you've searched far and wide for. You find them....and the piece is laminated (could be an album page, a handwritten letter, etc.).

What would you do? Buy it for it's significance and your desire to have something from them? Pass on it because of the lamination? Offer less than what an unlaminated piece might be worth?

Also, I'm wondering if the laminate affects the ability to authenticate a signature, the same way as being in a plastic sleeve or framed under glass would?

Does lamination matter? Why or why not?

0 members like this

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on December 29, 2021 at 8:10pm: Pass for condition (see below). It can never be A material in my book and will always be discounted in others books (and mine). Yes, Iv'e seen some laminated things "bleed" I suppose when they were done. When I was a kid everything possible was laminated, or so it seemed. I'm lucky I escaped. People thought it provided great waterproof protection. It does serve to consolidate, but at the worst cost I can think of apart from strips of cello tape etc.

I collect parts of the ocean liner Mauretania of 1907. Parts of her engines, the largest turbines in the world, come up for auction very, very rarely. I've seen only three in over 20 years. I passed on the first two because they had been cleaned. I had to wait ages and ages but I eventually found an uncleaned example. Don't settle if at all possible. I find when you do, something better is sometimes right around the corner.

Comment by marc e on December 30, 2021 at 6:58pm: it effects value alot

Comment by Mark Saunders on December 30, 2021 at 7:03pm: Not acceptable.

Comment by Herman Darvick on January 1, 2022 at 5:45pm: Laminated paper or laminated photographs or laminated autographs are not acceptable.

Comment by Herman Darvick on January 1, 2022 at 5:51pm: Let me elaborate. It is impossible to authenticate a laminated autograph because it is impossible to determine if an autograph was actually signed in ink or even in pencil or if it is simply a lamination of a facsimile, a photocopy, etc.

Comment by BallroomDays67 on January 1, 2022 at 6:07pm: Here’s a laminated autograph that has been authenticated:

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 1, 2022 at 6:39pm: August 6th 1966--John Lennon and Paul McCartney record (at Paul’s home on Cavendish Avenue, St. John’s Wood, London) a BBC radio program, “The Lennon and McCartney Songbook.” It consists of the two giving opinions of already-released versions of Lennon-McCartney songs performed by other artists. The show would be broadcast on August 29th.

Comment by Herman Darvick on January 1, 2022 at 6:49pm: Just because PSA/DNA authenticated it does not mean it is authentic. I was a PSA/DNA authenticator from 2006 to 2009 because I saw a Lyndon B. Johnson secretarially or forged signed card offered with my signature among others on the PSA/DNA Letter of Authentication. I never saw this signed card before. In fact, in three years as a PSA/DNA authenticator, I had NEVER been asked for my opinion on any signature. I asked Joe Orlando, President of PSA/DNA, to remove me from PSA/DNA as an authenticator. He did. He never asked me why. Joe Orlando was President of PSA and PSA./DNA Authentication Service until 2021. Just remember, PSA stands for Professional Sports Authenticator. I have always felt that the only reason he wanted my name listed as an authenticator was because most of the other authenticators listed were experts in sports. It s possible that John Lennon signed the paper before PSA/DNA laminated it. But lamination lessons its value.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 1, 2022 at 6:56pm: PSA would never have laminated it.

Comment by Herman Darvick on January 1, 2022 at 7:24pm: PSA/DNA laminates. They call it encapsulated in plastic (slabbed). Sports card collectors seem to like it. Autograph collectors and autograph dealers do not because it decreases the value.

Comment