Ten Warning Signs a Dealer May Be Selling Autograph Forgeries Fake Signatures

 

Ten Warning Signs a Dealer May Be Selling Autograph Forgeries

Author Kevin Conway

 

There have been countless write-ups and articles about what to look for when it comes to buying autographs. Most have the same basic information such as “if too good to be true”, compare to known exemplars, secretarials, autopens, etc. Therefore, instead of regurgitating the technical aspects of authentication, the focus here will be “autograph dealers”. What specifically to look for in a dealer’s presentation, reputation and behavior that may trigger a “red flag” that something is “not right”. Consequently, as more suspicious autograph sellers appear on the market; this will hopefully equip collectors with the data that will help avert a costly, painful experience. . Listed below are primarily my own personal experiences over the last 30 years of collecting. And although a particular behavioral element may not always necessarily indicate dishonest intentions, there have been countless scenarios in my own collecting life that such noted behaviors have been consistent with ""questionable"" autograph sellers.

1). Whether you are buying on eBay or a suspicious looking website, always look for a ”pattern”. These patterns may be in the form of a fishy consistency in the configuration of the signatures, type pen used, medium used, most of inventory conveniently UN-inscribed and imaginary supply. Ten years ago when forgers were even more prolific on eBay than today, you could usually look at their “Other Items for Sale” and notice a fishy consistency with all their “autographs”. Eventually, coming to the conclusion the SAME person was manufacturing all the autographs. Also, many suspect dealers have an ""imaginary supply"" of highly scarce items. For example, one website that sells autographed movie posters always seems to have plenty of ""Godfather"" signed movie posters including Marlon Brando's autograph. Not only is this scarce, a genuine Marlon Brando signed ""Godfather"" poster has never appeared on the market. If one ever does it will sell for several thousand dollars, not $399 as this particular site sells for.

2). The seller does not issue a COA and claims they are worthless. What he is really saying is, if you ever request a refund because the autograph is deemed a fake there will be no documented guarantee and hence no recourse for you to get a refund.

3). The seller’s inventory (i.e. website) is “unnatural”. What that means is an inventory of Genuine autographs will have a dramatic diversity including NOT just photos and signed pieces of paper, but mediums that are highly unlikely to be forged including personal checks, contracts, letters (especially on celebrity stationary) , official documents like presidential appointments, etc. When the inventory begins to look too much like common stock, i.e. easily forged glossy photos and paper cuts and most or all items are NOT inscribed, a red flag should go up. Most of the forgery businesses I have seen are all on “easy to create medium” like glossy photos, programs, books, and pieces of paper.
One popular tactic for sellers of autograph forgeries is to buy old books and tear out the blank pages and use fountain pens to forge the signatures with a vintage appearance. However, most of the time the newly applied fountain pen ink has a very distinctive, “unnatural” look to it. Quite different from ink that has aged over a 50 year period. See the image below.

In this image you see a PSA Certified genuine Frank Sinatra at the top and a blatant forgery on the bottom. Note in particular the ""look"" of the ink in the forgery. It has an unnatural look to it, like a freshly produced fountain pen. In addition, the signature was obviously traced from the Frank Sinatra signature study so you can see where the forger is tracing slowly at the beginning so the ink is applied heavily in the first few letters. Also, note all the natural characteristics in each letter is missing, in particular how Frank Sinatra uniquely made his ""a"" with an underlying loop. Also, look at how unnatural the ""Fr"" connection is in the Frank forgery.. *And of course , as with most forgers, this one does NOT risk adding more evidence of his handiwork in the form of an inscription. Most of the time (though not always) Frank Sinatra would add an inscription to in-person autograph requests, as did other major stars like John Wayne, Judy Garland and others. .

After you've seen hundreds of genuine vs fake examples the subtleties of a forgery become blatant. Look closely and you'll begin to see many more flaws in this forgery example.


4). Nothing or Very Little of the seller’s inventory has been verified by a Reputable independent 3rd party authentication service like Beckett, PSA or JSA.

For obvious reasons, suspicious sellers have an aversion to independent authentication. Most suspect sellers will try to convince you that industry recognized 3rd party autograph authentication services are not credible. What they are really saying is “I don’t want anyone to have the power to reveal my autographs are fake”. As a matter of fact, you will probably hear the typical autograph forger and/or seller of autograph forgeries malign ANY institution that has been specifically established to protect the public from those very unscrupulous characters in the forgery business. Such institutions include the UACC (the largest oldest autograph collecting organization - since 1965), and independent 3rd party authentication services like JSA and PSA. The primary reason suspect sellers object to an Independent analysis of their autographs ? Because such independent analysis exposes fraudulent autograph sellers.

NOTE on ""Forensic Experts"": Over the past 35+ years I've noticed various ""Forensic experts"" pop up in the autograph market (especially on eBay) and eventually disappear. Unfortunately ""Forensic experts"" have had a very bad track record in the autograph industry as it became clear most did not appear to have expertise authenticating autographs. They may teach handwriting analysis in Forensic School, but they don't teach how to authenticate a Frank Sinatra, JFK, Babe Ruth or Marilyn Monroe autograph. If you are NOT experienced with how Frank Sinatra (or other celebrities) authentically signed his name, no handwriting analysis training is going to help you make a credible opinion on a particular persons's signature . ONLY by seeing and studying thousands of signatures can you develop an ""eye"" to authenticate autographs with a high degree of accuracy. That's why the BEST authenticators have a specialty such as just music, sports, Presidents or Disney signatures. Because no one can possibly be an ""expert"" in every celebrity signature.

5). Ask the seller (if NOT buying on eBay) if you can check out his eBay autographs for sale. Most legitimate autograph dealers (with a website or other selling venue) also have an eBay account and certainly have a history of selling autographs on eBay. If a seller cannot show you his eBay account with autographs for sale there is a possibility (not always of course but another checkpoint) the seller has such a notoriously bad reputation for selling autograph forgeries, that he has been banned by eBay from selling autographs. * Of course this does not help in identifying someone who IS still selling fakes on eBay but is just another ""check and balance"" with someone selling suspect autographs on other online venues. On the contrary, eBay is flooded with non-genuine autographs and is a High Risk source as many sellers are inexperienced and/or ""anonymous"" (unknown in the autograph collecting community and have no established business outside of eBay, hence forget about any long term guarantee of authenticity).