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Asking for opinions on Wilt Chamberlain Auto.

This is an approximate 8 x 10 print of a Roger Riger illustrated drawing. I can post the full illustration if needed. All opinions appreciated on the autograph.

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Permalink Reply by James on November 22, 2019 at 7:00pm

This is a tough call. It’s got some positive attributes, but some of it seems off too. I can’t say for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on November 22, 2019 at 10:46pm

Oh Hell no. Never seen one like this before.

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Permalink Reply by James on November 22, 2019 at 11:12pm

Yeah, you’re right. It’s pretty jacked. Pretty much every letter in Wilt. And then you get to Chamberlain and you’ve got the open first a, and the missing hump in the m...so it looks like “Chunler...”. Not sure why I said tough call. Lol.

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on November 23, 2019 at 8:27am

The two big tells for me are not being able to read "Wilt" as "Wilt", and the flat-line "ain". Aside from what you mentioned. Wilt's first name is typically legible as "Wilt" in his signatures, even when he's in a hurry or in an awkward position, and all or most of the letters in the "lain" are also typically present, other than just a slash.

He very rarely comes up from below, to continue the downstroke of the 't' back up to cross it, and in this case, it looks like the number 6, again atypical.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Hruda on November 23, 2019 at 10:29pm

While I did ask for opinions, I believe it is genuine. Most exemplars are from his later and post playing days. As I was told, this is from his earlier days, probably 1967-68. I do agree that the missing ain detail does raise some concern, but if you look at the two examples, you will see the T in Wilt closely resembles mine.

The top is from the PSA website as an example and the second is from a current auction.

While I do not consider myself an expert on some - Mantle, DiMaggio, Jordan, etc. I did do my homework on this one.

Let me know if this changes your thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by James on November 24, 2019 at 12:17am

I wish we had more exemplars at various stages of his life and career.

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on November 24, 2019 at 1:06am

Pete, not even close. The forgery posted by the OP is drawn, based on an exemplar chosen from the earlier part of his career, but it's still uniquely atypical for any stage of his signature.