Editing Autograph collecting (section)

==Duplication, forging and authentication==
Autograph collectors enjoy assembling signed historical documents, letters, or objects as a way of capturing a piece of history. However, forgers seek to profit by selling forged items. Sometimes just the signature has been forged, in other instances the entire document has been fabricated. Differentiating forged from authentic autographs is almost impossible for the amateur collector, but a professional may be consulted.

One method commonly seen on [[eBay]] is called "preprinting" by many sellers. The item is only a photocopy of an actual autographed photo, usually printed on glossy home photo paper. Since this is almost always disclosed to the buyer, some may not consider these actual forgeries. In October 2012, Chad Richard Baldwin of Gresham, Oregon, was sentenced to two years in prison for the sale of forged [[Babe Ruth]] and [[Beatles]] autographs. Baldwin is a highly skilled forger of sports memorabilia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/more-fake-autographs-and-coas-have-oregon-detectives-busy|title=More Fake Autographs and COAs Have Oregon Detectives Busy|newspaper=Sports Collectors Daily |date=25 August 2011}}</ref>

Forgers may go to great lengths to make their forgeries appear authentic. Some use blank end papers from old books upon which to write their fake signatures in an attempt to match the paper of the era in which the personality lived. They have researched ink formulations of the era that they want to replicate. A 1988 book that explores the production of impressive fake manuscripts pertaining to [[Latter Day Saints|Mormons]] is ''A Gathering of Saints'' by [[Robert Lindsey (journalist)|Robert Lindsey]].

Collectors should know the era in which American presidents signed their documents. American presidents signed land grants until President [[Andrew Jackson]] (c. 1836) became bored with the time-consuming task. Since then, secretaries of the president have mimicked their employer's signatures on these documents (known as "proxy" signatures). Many [[movie stars]] have their secretaries sign their letters and photographs for them. When [[Ronald Reagan]] was an actor during the 1940s, he had his mother sign his name to much of his [[fan mail]].

During the [[American Civil War]], [[Jefferson Davis]]'s wife frequently signed his name to his dictated letters due to his extensive correspondence. As she duplicated his signature so well, she usually placed a period after the signature so that he could discern her signatures from his own.

All of the [[United States|Union]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] generals from the American Civil War have had their signatures forged. Many were faked during the 1880s, a period that included the fad of aging soldiers in collecting Civil War autographs. Most deceptions were of mere signatures on a small piece of paper, but extensively written letters were forged as well. Collectors should be cautious of ''clipped signatures''. The bogus autograph is glued onto an authentic steel-engraved portrait of the subject. Some steel engravings may have reprinted the autograph of the portrayed subject; this is known as a ''facsimile autograph'', and it may appear to be real.

===Secretarial signatures===

Celebrities sometimes authorized secretaries to sign their correspondence. In the early months of [[World War II]], U.S. Army Chief of Staff [[George C. Marshall]] felt obligated to sign every condolence letter sent to the families of slain soldiers. But as the death rate increased, he was forced to assign an assistant to forge his signature to the letters. The surrogate signatures were hard to distinguish from the originals. General [[Douglas MacArthur]] rarely signed a WWII condolence letter personally and all of his letters to families were signed by one of two assistants who tried hard to duplicate his signature but the forged signatures were distinguished by an unusually high letter "l" and a skinny "D". During the early stage of the Korean War, MacArthur personally signed condolence letters. As the fatalities increased, the General began to use letters with pre-printed signatures.

In the 1952 U.S. presidential election, General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] often had secretaries forge his name to campaign letters and "personally inscribed" autographed photographs.

Player signatures on baseballs and footballs that are actually signed by coaches and ballboys are called clubhouse signatures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/how-to-determine-the-difference-between-a-real-and-fake|title=How to Determine the Difference Between a Real and Fake Autograph: Terminology and Photo Examples|last=Gee|first=Cee|date=3 October 2011|website=Autograph Live|access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref>

===Autopen autographing===
[[File:Portrait of President Nixon with autopen signature - NARA - 194771.tif|thumb|Portrait of U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] with [[autopen]] signature]]

Since the early 1950s almost all American presidents have had an [[autopen]] or robot machine for the automatic signing of a signature as an autograph machine for their letters, photographs, books, official documents, and even memorabilia items such as [[Baseball (ball)|baseballs]] and [[golf ball]]s. Some former presidents even have continued to utilize the autopen after they have left office. The Signa-Signer can even write out in ink an authentically looking handwritten message that has been typed into the machine. One book detailing the use of this machine by President [[John F. Kennedy]] (1961–1963) is ''The Robot That Helped to Make a President'' by Charles Hamilton.

Since the 1960s, the practice of using an autopen has spread to U.S. Cabinet members, U.S. Senators, some [[Governor (United States)|state governors]], and many other personalities who have a high volume of correspondence with the public.

Astronaut [[Alan Shepard]] acknowledged that [[NASA]] used the autopen machine to sign the astronauts' voluminous correspondence. Many large corporations also use these machines for signing business letters. Although autopen signatures should constantly match one another, they will eventually change as the signature drum becomes worn, and thereby alters the signature. Due to these professional imitations, buyers are often wary of buying presidential or astronaut signatures from unknown sellers.

===Deceptive devices===
Some personalities have used a rubber or steel hand-stamp to "sign" their documents. American President [[Andrew Johnson]] (c. 1866) did so during his tenure as a senator prior to assuming the presidency, since his right hand was injured in a train accident. This is why his autograph as president differs from previous autographs. President [[Warren Harding]] frequently used a rubber stamp while he was a senator. Presidents [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] used them, along with President [[Woodrow Wilson]] (c. 1916). England's King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and Pennsylvania colony founder [[William Penn]] used a deceiving hand stamp.

[[Joseph Stalin]] had several rubber signature stamps which were used on awards and [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] cards. [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and [[Lavrenti Beria]], the [[KGB]] chief, used similar stamps.

Quality forgeries have been made for many of Europe's past rulers. The [[French nobility|French nobles]] had their ''secrétaires'' sign their documents. {{cn span|Many forgeries of [[Napoleon]]'s (c. 1800) war orders exist; he was so busy with battle concerns that he barely had enough time to sign promotion orders for generals, so his [[scribe]]s applied his name to lesser documents.|date=January 2021}}

Many famous astronauts,<ref>{{cite web|title=Found authentic Apollo 11 memorabilia online? Not so fast|url=https://www.tampabay.com/found-authentic-apollo-11-memorabilia-online-not-so-fast-20190703/|date=July 2, 2019|website=Tampa Bay Times|accessdate=5 January 2021}}</ref> Arctic explorers,<ref>{{cite web|last=Sandys|first=Susan|title=Expert casts doubt on Hillary signature|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/expert-casts-doubt-on-hillary-signature/B5OXIEDRVJB26YLXK2AC6DU2TY/|date=4 Jan 2013|website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |accessdate=8 January 2021}}</ref> musicians,<ref>{{cite web|title=Elvis, Beatles top list of most-forged autographs|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-28/elvis2c-beatles-top-list-of-most-forged-autographs/4446360|date=27 December 2012|website=ABC NEWS|accessdate=5 January 2021}}</ref> poets, and literary authors<ref>{{cite web|last=Mendelson|first=Edward|title=An Outbreak of Forged Signatures|url=https://audensociety.org/forgeries.html|website=The W. H. Auden Society|accessdate=8 January 2021}}</ref> have had forgeries of their epistles and signatures produced. False signatures of [[Charles Lindbergh]] were clandestinely signed onto real 1930-era airmail envelopes bought at stamp shops and then re-sold to unwary buyers; the same has occurred with [[Amelia Earhart]] and the [[Wright brothers]]. [[Mickey Mouse]] creator [[Walt Disney]] had several of his cartoonists duplicate his artistic signature on replies to children seeking his autograph. Disney's actual autograph was distinctly different from the way it appears in his cartoons.

Texan paper currency was signed in ink by [[Sam Houston]], though not handwritten by Houston himself.

The October 1986 ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine explored ''[[The Persistence of Memory]]'', a 1931 painting by the Spanish artist [[Salvador Dalí]]. It quoted one of his secretaries as claiming that she signed the artist's signature to postcard depictions of his paintings. Another article in the April 2005 ''Smithsonian'' noted: "In 1965 he began selling signed sheets of otherwise blank lithograph paper for $10 a sheet. He may have signed well over 50,000 in the remaining quarter century of his life, an action that resulted in a flood of Dalí lithograph forgeries."

Some deceivers cut pages from books that American President [[Richard Nixon]] signed on the blank flyleaf, typed his letter of resignation from the presidency on that signed page, and then sold the doctored item as if Nixon had personally signed a scarce copy of the historical document. This practice has expanded to include quotations from [[George W. Bush]], [[Hillary Clinton]], [[John F. Kennedy]], and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].

===Authentication===
With the recent enormous growth of autograph sellers on eBay, and the appearance of a multitude of new galleries and retailers offering expensive autographs, casual autograph collectors and one-time buyers have in many instances sought certificates of authenticity issued by the seller at the time of sale. As with any guarantee, these certificates are only as dependable as the seller issuing them, and if the seller is a fraud, then the certificate, and the possibility that the signed item could be considered worthless. Any certificate or similar issued by a seller should always include the seller's full contact details and any details of Association memberships, and these should always be double checked on the Associations website.

[[File:Sophie Tucker's autograph in autobiography.jpg|thumb|[[Vaudeville]] entertainer [[Sophie Tucker]]'s autograph in a copy of her 1945 autobiography]]
In many instances, sellers will use a professional authenticator to determine the authenticity of the material they wish to bring to market. The autograph industry is currently contentiously split between two types of authenticators: those who rely upon their professional expertise and experience personally having collected or sold large inventories of autographs over a period of many years, such as the consultants at AutographCOA.com (ACOA), and "forensic examiners" who rely on academic credentials. Disputes have led to court actions, most notably gallery owner American Royal Arts vs. Beatles autograph dealer Frank Caiazzo, often used by autograph sources such as [[RR Auction]].

Potential autograph buyers uncertain of the legitimacy of the seller or authenticator may research both parties, and may check any dealer who claims membership of any association. PADA, the UACC, RACC, and AFTAL include a list of dealers on their websites. This research should not be limited to a seller's or an authenticator's website which could be prejudiced. Some dealers have been known to invent their own association, e.g. "The Universal Manuscript Society", to enhance their reputations.

Mastro Auctions, a major sports autograph auction house which used a professional authenticator, was sued by a dealer in 2006 (''Bill Daniels v. Mastro Auctions'', Boone County, Indiana, case #06D01-0502 -PL- 0060). Daniels said that he had bought more than 2,000 signed photographs of athletes from Mastro and claimed that the catalog incorrectly described them as all being in color and 8" x 10" in size. Daniels also claimed that some of the autographs on the photographs may have been fakes. He produced two dealers who he said were autograph experts, but Superior Court Judge Matthew C. Kincaid excluded their testimony saying that neither Steve Koschal nor Richard Simon "possess sufficient skill, knowledge or experience in the fields in which they were asked to render opinions." The law for each state is different regarding qualifications to testify. Simon and Koschal have both testified in states where their testimony is accepted in court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2007/07/15/2007-07-15_lack_of_intent_seen_in_flubs_at_auctions.html |title=Lack of intent seen in flubs at auctions |newspaper=NY Daily News |date=July 15, 2007 |access-date=January 10, 2012}}</ref>

===Other authenticity issues===

Forgers buy real [[American Revolutionary War]]-era documents and surreptitiously pen a famous patriot's name between other real signatures in a manuscript in hope of deceiving an unsuspecting buyer. Others will use tea or tobacco stains to brown or age their modern missives.

Many autographed items of famous American sports players being sold over the Internet are fakes. Baseball legend [[Babe Ruth]], for instance, has had his signature forged on old baseballs, then rubbed in dirt to make them appear to be from the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:183605/datastream/PDF/view|title=Sporting Materiality: Commodification and Fan Agency in Collections, Memorabilia, Jerseys, and Dirt|last=Andon|first=Stephen Patrick|date=May 11, 2011|access-date=September 18, 2016|via=Florida State University Libraries}}</ref>

===British royal family===
The British royal family is strictly forbidden from signing autographs because of the risk of the autographs being forged by others for use for their commercial gain. British royal family autographs, however, do exist, both from past royals and current ones, such as two 2010 examples when both (the then [[Prince Charles|Prince) Charles]] and [[Prince Harry]] signed autographs to one person each.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/a12012109/why-kate-middleton-doesnt-sign-autographs/|title = Why Meghan Markle Can't Sign Autographs|date = 19 January 2018}}</ref>