I'm hoping there are some people around here that know about celebrity autographs.
How usual is it for an autograph from early in someone's career to differ significantly from that person's autograph later on in their career? Is it possible that there would be almost no similarities between the two? And how could such an autograph be authenticated with reasonable certainty?
Thanks!
[ edited by loosecannon on Feb 13, 2001 08:18 AM ]
posted on February 13, 2001 09:05:08 AM
I have dealt with sports personalities autographs on a pretty extensive basis and can tell you that there can be significant differences between an "early career" signature and a "later career" signature. There still should be some similarities between the two though. For instance Joe Namath's signature from the '60's and '70's is significantly different from his current signature but the letters "J" and "N" are almost the same. There are authenticating services out there but they charge fees anywhere from $20 - a few hundred dollars for their services. There have been many studies done that report over 75% of the autographs offered for sale to the public are forgeries. Also, certificates of authenticity are basically worthless. Most of the time they are signed by the person selling the item, not an expert who actually examined the item.
[ edited by BROOKLYNGUY on Feb 13, 2001 09:09 AM ]
posted on February 13, 2001 09:15:52 AM
I spent years collecting autographs, but quit because of all the forgeries and scams. Once autographs became big biz it ruined it for the most part.
Like Brooklyguy mentioned, signatures can vary tremendously - especially over the years. The only way to know for sure is if you saw them sign it, it is being sold and has been authenticated by a reputable company (example: Upper Deck, usually sports) or you are willing to pay the dough to have it professionally authenticated. Obviously the last two are not fool-proof.
I'm sure there are people who make a living doing nothing but listing auctions on Ebay and signing there own stuff.
Be careful!
