Al Pacino authenticity opinions

Have been inactive here a while. Was cleaning up my collection to sell/gift any extra pieces. Found this one. Submitted it to psa in 2012, got a no opinion in addition to the other 2 soccer autographs I sent in (those were in person graphs, so I take their opinion lightly). I know Pacino’s in person signature is tough to authenticate, but if anyone has an idea it would be greatly appreciated. Look forward to remaining active. Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on May 9, 2018 at 3:19am

It doesn’t have the flow of Pacino scribbles I’ve seen, and it doesn’t look quickly and spontaneously signed. I don’t think he signed it.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on May 9, 2018 at 4:41am

Great to see you on again Mike. I wanted a Pacino autograph a long time ago. I gave up because of the price of his older full autographs and my fear of his initials or scribble or whatever he is doing now days. I am not an expert but had to wade through a ton of similar "markings." This one I think PSA probably called it right. While possible I think it looks a bit labored and as Steve said not as quick as his usual. I often wonder with the "modern" stars if any of them can be truly considered autographs.

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Permalink Reply by Mike P on May 9, 2018 at 11:01pm

Thanks Steve & Scott. I had to look through my records, this was from Mike Aring, supposedly signed in person

Happy to get some current opinions. Ive seen that Al has done private signings with full signatures; even at their high price it may be the best option. At least for one’s peace of mind..

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on May 10, 2018 at 6:51am

I think he is one of those that if you really want it for a collection you are better off paying top dollar for a no doubt one than to have a little scribble that may or may not be good. On some of his I have seen "authenticated" I have no idea how they can be certain. Here are just some examples of PSA-DNA authenticated ones these in my opinion are not "signatures" I am not sure what to call them. I would love to know what reasoning went behind saying they were authentic. They range from $99-249 I think. I am not saying these are not good I am just saying even if they were is that even a "signature"? If these were shown to someone who knew nothing of autographs and had never seen anything from Pacino could they tell you what it spells? Even if certain what anyone has is a piece of paper his pen touched for a second. I have long since given up on adding him but like I said I would try to find a nice older signature (or modern if it is a well known signing) with full signature. Here are a couple examples of PSA-DNA certified on ebay now:

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on May 10, 2018 at 6:55am

I agree. I would not define these modern "signatures" as autographs. They are scribbles at best.

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Permalink Reply by James on May 10, 2018 at 11:39pm

Are these being sold by sellers who may be big clients of PSA? I firmly believe that if a big client sends in a questionable autograph (one that PSA would reject if I sent it in) to PSA, PSA is likely to pass it. And that destroys credibility.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on May 11, 2018 at 2:08am

I agree. It’s obvious that PSA and Beckett let slide autographs that really could not be authenticated or are questionable for their high volume customers.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on May 11, 2018 at 5:25am

Hi James to be honest I didn't pay any attention to the seller I was just looking for TPA exemplars for Pacino on eBay. I should say also I do not mean to pick on PSA but these three just popped out. I am certain there are JSA examples out there too. In a fit of laziness I just stopped after a minute and half when I got these. I may be wrong but I would not think they would just rubber stamp lots just because the submitter was high volume. My suspicion is that these may have been submitted by in person collectors or dealers that PSA know have good reputations. I strongly feel that anyone serious about obtaining Mr. Pacino would be better off paying for as full a signature as possible. Modern autographs are one reason I stick almost exclusively with classic entertainment. I like to look at an autograph and say yes that does kind of look like the name in question. in the examples I show I see nothing but scribbles as my friend Joe W. says.

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Permalink Reply by Rick R on July 26, 2018 at 7:36pm

I feel most in person graphs pacino signs are not able to be authenticated as he scribbles on purpose so you can’t sell it!! I say this because I saw him sign for many people in Rochester ny all of which was scribbles and even the scribbles were very different from one another. Then someone asked for him to sign thier arm and he signed it very readable! I believe he signed thier arm so nice because he knew they couldn’t sell it!! My opinion is if you want a Pacino graph get it on a card like a leaf pop century.

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Permalink Reply by Mike P on May 11, 2018 at 5:08am

Scott, this is why I am suspicious of tpas. The fact they were able to even render an opinion on those “signatures” is surprising. I share James’ suspicion; despite being a conspiracy, this could give the impression that the trusted larger clients get preferential treatment.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on May 11, 2018 at 5:38am

Hey Mike, I think you are correct in "trusted larger clients" perhaps being given the benefit of the doubt on "signatures" like those. I have never submitted anything to any TPA but were I to buy those three and submit one each to PSA, Beckett and JSA would any pass? I rather doubt it.