A very short guide on how to make sure that an autograph is likely authentic.
But first, don't think someone who seem to know a lot knows a autographs just because they've been selling or collecting autographs for a long time is an expert! There are a lot of people I've met who only collect autographs. These people haven't read any of the books on the subject or looked into any of the signed items they have purchased. As a result, they often have fakes, autopens, and secretarial or printed signatures in their collections and their collection often proves to be worth far less than they believed. Your collection could become far more valuable if you do your job and follow some simple guidelines.
That being said, this short article does not cover all the important things you need to know, but read and learn and you should be able to tell the difference between a real signature and a fake one after reading this.
It's also important to know the difference between an opinion and an authentication. If you ask a dealer or collector what he thinks of something you bought, he might say, "Yes, it looks fine to me." But his opinion is probably only based on a quick look at the signature at the time and on signatures he remembers or stocks he has that look a lot like the one you bought. He would have looked at your item quickly for free, so there's not much you can say in return. But how well does he know his stock and how good is his own knowledge? And if the "opinion" is free, then remember that nothing is free!
So when people say what they think about signatures, keep in mind that most of the time, that's all they are: an opinion based on a quick look and a comparison to one or two other examples that they have in their head! It's not right to do it this way, and it could result in a bad purchase or even worse!
Signed items aren't always real, even if they look like other signatures you might find online. When you compare signatures, they should all be from the same time period (not 15 years apart) and have the same style (not the same signature on a cheque compared to the same signature on an album page). You should also compare each signature letter for letter, word for word, line for line. The most important thing is to be careful and take time when making any comparisons.
In a court of law you work on the basis of "Beyond reasonable doubt" and that is the way you should consider all signatures. Do not think along the lines of “balance of probability” or take into consideration the “provenance” of the item as in many cases these back stories are simply made up by doing a few google searches to create the provenance. Remember the meaning of the term provenance, “a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality”. That is a record of ownership (and not simply a story told to you by the seller with no proof) and only used as a guide, and not proof in itself. In court, you would have to show this proof to the judge and jury as evidence of proof. They would have to be able to understand it and see how it proves the signature is real or fake before they could decide.
If you haven't already, please read the other pieces I've written on this subject. Before reading this piece, you should know a bit about autographs and have made sure that the signature you have is real, was written by hand on the right paper, and wasn't printed or made by a machine or autopen.
There is one very important thing you should always remember: you should always assume that an autograph is fake before you buy it, and only allow the signature itself to prove to you that its authentic and never the back story. If you start to consider some of the story behind it genuine then you will soon start to convince yourself that the signature is authentic and that is a very dangerous road to follow. Fake until it proves to you that its is authentic! it may sound strange and be hard to understand, but follow that mantra and you will buy a lot fewer fake autographs. Always remember the phrase "If in doubt, then don't" when you're shopping.
So lets get down to some detail, so first you should make sure that the signature you have is real and not some kind of copy, which happens a lot more often than you might think. A magnifying glass is all you need to see most written signatures. A 3D microscope and a version that is hooked up to a computer and can show very clear pictures are some of the ones we use, but as a collector you only really need a 10x magnifying glass of which there are many different kinds. We use several different ones, all 10x some with a built in light as good lighting is very important.
First you should use the magnifying glass to look at different kinds of printed signatures produced in various ways, inkjet, laser etc. You can see them under the glass as small dots, droplets of different colours of ink, very small colour particles, or plain colour with no writing that overlaps. This will all make a lot more sense after you compare these printed versions with the hand signed originals.
When you look at what you see and compare it to how you write with a ballpoint pen, fountain pen, marker, or pencil, it's easy to tell what a written signature is. Don't be too sure of yourself, though! It's always possible for printers and especially forgers to get better at what they do. I've seen a lot of printed signatures that aren't as easy to spot as you might think. So take a decent amount of time to compare genuine hand signed items using different pens, with printed copies. After a while you will then easily be able to spot the differences and sort the hand signed from the printed copies.
Along with the written signatures, we need to look for other clear signs that something is not right. Sometimes people don't even notice the things that are really obvious. Many people might be fooled by a fake signature on the front of a postcard, but the copyright date on the back shows that it was made after the person who was supposed to have signed it died!
When we write an expert witness report, we might also look at things like the pen used and whether it was possible to get that pen or ink at the time. It's possible that you read about a case where someone faked a picture of Laurel and Hardy and signed it with a felt tip pen!
You learn to write your name when you are young, and it won't change much once you have get through the teenage years! It will go through small changes, but the style, or the way you sign or write, will usually stay the same. Except when you lose an arm and have to learn with the other arm, which is a different story!
There is no doubt that everyone has their own unique style. Some celebs will deliberately sign everything wrong, in the corner, or with a kiss or drawing. You should think about and look at all of these things. But don't forget the phrase "Never say never!" How many times have you heard another collector say “so and so never sign those images” when you have just seen the same image signed right in front of you?
Some sign their names in different ways for different reasons. A famous person may use a different form of their signature when they are signing something official, like a cheque than when they are signing autographs for fans. Most of the time, they do this to save time and effort, but if you look closely, you should still see that those signatures still have a lot in common.
Other people sign their names in a way that could make it hard for a collector to sell. Some people might use the wrong hand or sign their name with a flourish that isn't their name but a swear word or even someone else's! It doesn't happen very often, but its well documented for instance that both Michael Gambon and Ian McKellen would knowingly sign each others photos for collectors!
The size of a person's signature normally will not change that much, but if they're given a bigger piece to sign or perhaps a larger pen, they tend to make their signature larger. In other words, the dimensions don't change much, even if the size does.
Comparing signatures next to each other in Photoshop is a quick and easy way to check authenticity. It's not perfect, but you'll be amazed at how much two signatures (one real one fake) can look alike until you put them next to or on top of each other. If you dont have photoshop then simply print out both signatures at the same size and put them next to each other and compare, you can also put them one on top of another and hold them up to the light or use a lightbox. This will easily show you the differences between the two.
Pressure and speed are something else we need to look at. It takes one quick and easy flourish to make a signature, so the faker has to try to copy this. He will have a hard time with this, even after practice, because he can only copy the signature instead of remembering it as you would.
It's something we do without even knowing it when we sign our own names. Our brain tells the hand, wrist, and arm an easy command, and hey presto, it’s a signature! This action is so smooth and automatic that the faker will find it impossible to copy. Watching someone sign their name will show you that their arm, wrist, and fingers are all moving in different directions. This creates a signature with varying degrees of pressure and speed throughout, and so the forger not only has to replicate the letters, but also the speed and pressure as well.
Everyone also has a different slant that stays the same through life. When writing, left-handed people often have a slant to the left, which is hard to do if you are right-handed (try it and you'll see what I mean). There may also be a tilt that gets worse as the writing or signature goes across the page.
The spacing between each letter and word, or line doesn't change every time someone writes. It mostly stays the same all the way through the piece. It's hard for someone to copy this, though, and they will almost always get it wrong.
Its often the smallest details that make a fake unique. Forgers might be good at copying signatures, but they will not always get the little things right that make some signatures or signers special. For instance, does the faker write dot the i or cross the t differently?
When making comparisons between a suspect signature and the known genuine examples, you should always be comparing at the very least 6 known genuine examples against the one suspect one, and remember that those genuine examples should be from a similar period. Finding known genuine examples for comparison can be the hard part though. We have many different books on the subject with tens of thousands of known genuine examples to choose from. There are also many good auction houses where you can go through their past sales in order to find examples, but good auctions are not easy to find, so be very choosey when doing this.
When you come across an item with multiple signatures, say for instance a football shirt, then you will normally find that if the same person has signed all the signatures, then the signatures will often all be of a similar size, slant, and letter spacing, when if they were signed by 11 or so different people each one would be very different. To prove this simply ask a dozen or so people to sign an item (always using the same pen) and you will see how 12 direct people using the same pen can create 12 very different signatures.
A lot of books have been written about autographs. Some are bad, but there are many that are a must read for a collector. We think you should look for and buy these:
Any book by Ray Rawlins book. All of these are now out of print so you will need to search for these online but they are worth having in your collection as they show thousands of genuine examples of famous names.
The Sanders Price Guides used to be the bible of autograph dealers, but are now out of print and way out of date pricewise, but they again have thousands of examples of authentic signatures for you to compare with.
Suzan and Steven Raab wrote the book "Movie Star Autographs of the Golden Era". This was only a limited run publication but it can still be found online if you search.
Another good book is “Christensen's Celebrity Autographs” is no longer in print, but again has a lot of examples of signatures from famous people.
If you are into space signatures, then “Neil Armstrong, The Quest for his Autograph” is one you must have as it shows many examples of his signature and is the guide for Armstrong signatures. And another one which is tough to find but essential if you have any Cosmonaut signatures is "Cosmonaut Autographs" by Stephen R. Datz might be hard to find though!
If you really want to learn about the science of signature authentication then two books you need to read are “Forensic Handwriting Examination” by Reed Hayes, and “Detecting Forgery” by Joe Nickell. Many people will tell you that authentication of signatures is based on opinions only, but read these books and you will soon see that is not the case at all.
There are many other books that have been written on the subject of autographs and many have been small run books that are very hard to find, but always keep an eye open and build a library of knowledge that you can refer to when in doubt, as they can be worth their weight in gold.
If you are a serious collector then there are some other books that you should consider, and if you are a dealer, then these following books are a must read as they will certainly open your eyes to what some of the con men and crooks have been up to over the years.
“Operation Bullpen” by Kevin Nelson is a must-read for anyone who buys or sells autographs. The book tells the truth about fakes and the US forgery ring that the FBI shut years ago. There are still a lot of big fake businesses in the US that are still selling to the public, but they will eventually be shut down or will simply disappear overnight. Amazon or Kevin's website are both good places to get the book.
Two other books that are worth the read are “FAKE, Forgery Lies and ebay” by Kenneth Walton, and “Life in the Faz lane” by Michael O’Rourke, i even get a mention in the last one! Both of these books are about confidence tricksters or forgers and written by those who were behind the scams, so there is much to learn!
Thats more books than you need for now, but i will add some more to this as time goes by, happy reading!
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