Quote:
Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere
Reads to me like you're trying to convince yourself that your Ted Williams autographed baseball is authentic.
Is it because you want to believe it is authentic?
|
Chris I have a similar response as the OP when somone simply states an autograph is not authentic without providing justification. It's not that I don't trust their opinion and it's not that I'm trying to convince myself an autograph is authentic. I like to learn as much as I can as a collector, so when someone says an autograph is not authentic I like to know how they came to that decision so I can look at the autograph, see those observations, learn from them and become a more informed collector moving forward.
With tha being said here are my observations.
The use of a ball point pen is a dead giveaway as Jim stated. Ball point pens were not introduced in the states until the very end of 1945 so it would have been virtually impossible for an autograph dated 1941 to be made with a ball point pen.
This is an important fact to remember when dealing with vintage autographs, you will easily be able to tell the difference between a fountain pen and a ball point pen. If you can't, go buy a fountain pen and ink and compare it side by side with a ball point pen. Even with today's ball point pens the difference screams out at you.
Another important characteristic in the signature is the "d" in Ted and "W" in Williams are connected and continuous. While this was a characteristic of his signature later in life and in most of the examples you probably compared it to, his early signatures do not exhibit this characteristic. In his early signatures from the 40s and into the 50s there was a clear separation and pen lift between his first and last name.