Always check ...
a)
Known Provenance and
history
b)
Look for obvious dates or spelling
mistakes
c)
Age of photos. Obvious examples are
recent Moviemarket 10 x 8 photos signed amazingly by people who died 30 years
ago!
d)
Type of pen used. Beware black
sharpie and felt pens did not really exist until the 1980’s. Silver and Gold
pens till the 1990’s. So fully signed 10 x 8’s and LPs from the 1970’s in felt
pens by Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols cannot be
genuine!
e)
Sizes and positions of autographs on
pages and photos.
f)
Idiosyncrasies / style / comparisons
of the signer
g)
Research the celebrity’s life and
provenance. The Internet can make this easy.
h)
Dedications / extra words are often
reassuring for authenticity as a forger would rarely do this. However research
whether they may be secretarial. Dedications will often reduce value by at least
30%
i)
Types of photos. Learn to spot
prints. No impact of pen onto paper or no lift from
ink.
j)
Stamped signatures display ink
shading around the character.
k)
Autopens produce squiggles rather
than straight lines often a uniform thickness with no point of initial contact
on the page.
l)
Look for absorption of ink paper.
Ink has a sheen.
m) Do
not display autographs where there is direct sunlight as they will
fade.
n) Store autographs in
acid free sleeves. Mount autographs using acid free
products.
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