[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I would certainly like to know if there was any additional information given to Beckett which gave them the confidence to authenticate that Schaefer. As a standalone cut signature coupled with what little exists to compare it to, I would never have been able to authenticate that.

Granted, there are precious few authentic examples known in the hobby, but I don't recall a single one that was signed "Germany". For the most part, none resemble this handwriting, either. There are a couple of letters contained within the signature that do bear a resemblance to two letters found in exactly one of the authentic exemplars. That would be far too little for me to give the go-ahead on. (Before anyone asks, I don't wish to post my Germany Schaefer exemplars to prove my point, nor will they be shared privately. If this is of interest, people can do a little auction archive digging, etc. to generate some examples to look at.). Due to the factors mentioned, I'd be inconclusive at best. That might be rather charitable of me, but it's the right place to be.