I was thinking. and its baffling.

[GrayGhost]

Not my thinking itself being baffling, but the issue.

Now, we all know CC sells fake crap in the autograph world, and lots of it. We know Richard Simon, PSA, JSA and others are opinions that we strongly take as accurate. My question is, how do we REALLY Know anything is a real autograph of someone like Ruth, Foxx, Cobb, Gehrig, etc? I know authenticators use "known exemplars" of good signatures. Other than something being on a legal document, notarized and such (as the old autographs rarely are, how do we REALLY know? I know this is kind of a philsophical issue, but still, sometimes I think about it.

Is it all a matter of trust and good judgment?

[ibuysportsephemera]

Scott...I have collected for 25+ years and that is the reason why I never collected autographs. It was a matter of personal choice that I decided that I did not want to have to second guess myself. I am in no way being critical of autograph collectors and I actually had Richard Simon authenticate a Gil Hodges autograph for me. I did not purchase it, it was on a sheet of paper (with other players autographs) that I found in a yearbook I purchased.

[GrayGhost]

If Financial means allowed, I would love to collect autographs, but yes, that has always bugged me. I guess you just have to put your faith in it, and obviously some people's opinions are much more "gospel", than others. I'm interested in how some who do have autograph collections feel too. Thanks for the reply Jeff.

[drc]

I suspect a lot of the exemplars are from contracts and legal documents. I've seen Ruth signed contracts, his driver's license and even a Ruth signature that was notarized. I've seen Rube Marquard's visa and Joe Jackson's signed Last Will and Testament. When these types of items are known to have coe from player's estate or team, then there is some reliability involved.

Also, some official signed documents may be viewable through the military, government or schools. Even if you can't keep the Christy Mathewson signed Army pension document you view at the Army's archive, you might be able to get a photocopy. Perhaps you can visit Columbia University and see if you can obtain a photocopy of a Lou Gehrig's signed college document from when he was a student.

Greta Garbo's is one of the rarest and most desirable Hollywood moviestar signatures. As her estate was officially auctioned off by Christies' and it contained her signed driver's license, it can be said there is a reliable Garbo signature for authentication reference.

[perezfan]

If you want to get into it, you can limit your collection to things like Team-signed Balls, Govt. PCs and signed Checks. There are lots of autograph mediums that are safer than single-signed balls and the questionable cut signatures you always see.

Autograph Album sheets are another medium that tends to be more reliable, although I suppose a forger could "add" a few sigs to an existing sheet. Usually, these would stand out like a sore thumb, because of different ink, age, etc. If you are still not comfortable with the authenticity of these safer mediums, its probably best to stick with other areas of collecting.

[ibuysportsephemera]

I should have included in my response that the only autographs that I collect are on canceled checks, of which I have quite a few. I am picky as I only collect checks with the players name imprinted on it.

[sbfinley]

It's kinda like the 3rd test Indiana Jones had to pass in "The Last Crusades". You just gotta have faith.