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Permalink Reply by Josh Board NEW & Improved on May 28, 2023 at 6:09pm

Why would nobody authenticate them? And what's the story behind them?

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 29, 2023 at 8:07am

Well, I am not an expert at all but I think this kind of "Signature" he used is just too easy to fake because I cannot see too many characteritics in this to say is it legit or not. Maybe a pro can, I don't know.

Concerning the Story behind it, it's a loooong Story and I'm not sure if this Forum is made for this but I guess the Admin will let me know if it is not cool. Please bear with me if there are wrong words or grammatical mistakes in it, I'm from Germany :)

So, a dear friend of mine worked as an Au-Pair in Minneapolis for a year or 18 months and she became fast Friends with the Daughter of the House who worked or had an internship at Paisley Park. I'm not sure which. As a HUGE Prince Fan since the mid-80's (like so many others I saw and heard Purple Rain when I was 15 years old and that was it for me) I was very excited about that of course and pestered her constantly to get me a Prince Autograph if she ever meet him. She wasn't into Prince at all (his Music was "too weird" for her) she was more into N Sync and the Backstreet Boys back then.... She occasionally picked up her Friend after Work for Dinner or to go to a Club and saw Prince from time to time on an upper Floor or crossing the Foyer but was told by her Friend to better not approach him for an Autograph....

She often waited in her car in the Parking Lot but this one day it was freezing cold and her Friend had to work longer than expected so she told her to better wait in the Foyer. A door opened and the Band came out (they had an Rehearsal at the Soundstage) and someone from the Band approached her and greeted her friendly. Since it was not Justin Timberlake she had no Idea who the Guy was. He asked her if she was a Fan and she answered no, and that she is only waiting for a friend of hers working here BUT that she knows a crazy Prince Fan (that would be me) She didn't know who this man was but figured since he obviously was in the Band I would be happy to get an autograph from him too. So she asked him and he did. It was Larry Graham. 

During this conversation Prince came out the Door the Band came out before and came over to them to see what was going on. He said Hi and watched while he signed the piece of paper in bold letters. As she told me then Larry Graham turned to him and said that this is for a Friend who is a big Fan and that she probably would also like to have a Signature from the "Baby Brother". Prince turned around, walked to the reception area and pulled a white Paper out of the Printer and took a Marker. Then he signed on the Counter and handed her the Sheet with his "Symbol" on it. My Friend not knowing anything about him, asked him why he would not give a "proper Signature" with his Name (Ouch!) and he smiled at her, took the Marker in his left hand (!) and scribbled "Prince" under the Symbol. 

Later when she was back in Germany I watched Under the Cherry Moon with her (I still tried to show her REAL Music) and she said that the "Wreckastow" Scene with Prince and Jerome Benton reminded her totally of this encounter and his smile and laughter that Night.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Board NEW & Improved on May 29, 2023 at 8:22am

Love it! Thanks for sharing the story.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on May 30, 2023 at 12:26pm

I think you have a good chance of getting this authenticated. Here's a CD with Prince's symbol autograph certified by Beckett that Iconic sold in 2018. The symbol looks much like yours and feels natural:

https://www.iconicauctions.com/prince___friends_multi_signed__the_b...

Here's an incredible Prince handwritten lyrics and sketch notebook pre-certified by Roger Epperson that RR Auction sold in 2020. At just a quick look I saw enough to give me the impression yours was by the same hand: https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/340758705849285

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 31, 2023 at 10:04am

Thank you guys. But honestly I don't need it to get authenticated because this dear friend of mine had nothing to gain by giving me something not real as a Gift and there were a hundred Times that she had the chance to give me something just to shut me up when I asked her again and again during her stay in MPLS if she saw him and tried to get me an autograph. She always said, yeah, I saw him then and then walking around but everybody told me NOT to approach him for an Autograph. And I will probably never sell it anyway.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on May 31, 2023 at 11:19am

I just wanted you to know that I think it's quite possible that it could be authenticated, Alex!

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 31, 2023 at 11:21am

Thank you ! I"m really glad I found this community ! 

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Permalink Reply by Alex on June 1, 2023 at 6:45am

Thank you for encouriging me. My curiosity won and I've sent the Pictures to Roger Epperson and he just answered that he thinks these are authentic and also my 1999 Innersleeve which I posted here. I really didn't think that there are enough characteristics to judge this Larry Graham/Prince Combo. Awesome

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Permalink Reply by Alex Gifford on May 30, 2023 at 1:41pm

I think the Prince O(-> has a good chance of being authentic.  

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