| 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. |
