Fakes

Mark McGwire fans attending a West Coast memorabilia show had an opportunity to buy an autographed photo of the (former) Athletics first baseman. The photo showed McGwire sporting his menacing goatee. The promoter approached the dealer and asked, "Where did you get these?" The dealer replied, "From a private signing." The promoter and others happened to know that McGwire had not signed any photographs since growing the goatee. The photographs were real. The autographs were faked. The products were confiscated. The sad part is that had the McGwire photos showed him without the goatee the perpetrator likely would have gotten away with the forgeries.

Someone knowledgeable of authenticity issues is approached during a show and shares an item believed to be signed by a baseball player from the 19th Century. The collector studies the item, then comments, "Who's going to know if this is real?"

A memorabilia aficionado was standing at the Belmont racetrack with two older men. One of the men pulls more than 70 autographs on cuts from an envelope for the expert to examine. "Take a look at these," he says before departing to place a bet in the next race. An examination of the cards shows quite a few fine autographs and those of about 60 obscure players who were supposed to have played in the 19th Century. The other older man asks, "How do you know any of these are any good?" The expert notes the "good" autographs and as to the suspect ones he shrugs and says, "I don't think these 60 are any good because nobody is going to take the time to forge the signatures of 60 people you've never heard of."

SIGNATURE AUTHENTICITY is a world of formations, strokes, stopping points and slants. It's a world of verification, comparisons and hours of viewing countless examples of signatures on legal documents, from wills and letters to personal checks. It's also a world of consternation, threats of lawsuits
and anxiety. Sadly, for the autographed memorabilia hobby, it's pervasive.

To read the entire article, press Read More if you are an Online subscriber or Subscribe Now!