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Authenticating autographs is a skill. You can learn it and you can develop it until you are an expert at it. However, in order to do so you have to start with the basics... Authenticating autographs 101.
First of all you need to understand what an autograph is. An autograph is not the same as a signature. It is extremely rare for someone to sign an autograph in the same way they would sign a contract or a check. An autograph is more of a representation of a signature, a picture, or a drawing of a signature. It may have some of the same elements but they will usually differ dramatically.
With that in mind, you will need samples of known authentic autographs to compare your unknown autographs to. There are numerous online sample guides, books, and CD's available to choose from. The online sample guides are usually the easiest to work with and are kept more up-to-date than the others so they are highly recommended. Whichever you choose you should try to find more than one known authentic sample to compare to.
When you first start comparing your unknown quality autograph to known authentic autographs you should first look at the autographs as a whole.
Do the autographs even look similar?
Do they lean approximately the same direction?
Does the space between the first and last name look about the same?
Are the names the right size in proportion to the photo?
Does the autograph's location on the photo approximately match? Many celebrities sign their autographs in roughly the same location every time they sign out of habit.
If you are satisfied with the above qualities then take the next step and look a little closer. Look at the individual letters starting with the first letters of the first and last name. Celebrities like to make these letters bigger or fancier than the rest of their name so you should pay close attention to them.
Then look at the looped letters like the letters, "a", or, "d" look correct. Also look at the "peaked" letters like the letters, "l", or, "t". See if they are sharp pointed or rounded. Look to see how much space is visible and if the letters lean in one direction or another.
Next look at the, "humped", letters like the letters, "m", "n", and "w". Look at the humps and see if they are sharp or rounded. Are both humps in the "m" and "w" match? Many celebrities will make one hump rounded and the other sharp. Pay attention to the spacing in between letters as well because the spacing is as much part of the name as the lines and dots of the letters.
If you are still satisfied with the above qualities then look even closer at the ink lines. When someone writes they have natural patterns of pressure and stroke. The stroke is the smoothness or flow of the autograph. You should take note; that pressure and the stroke change a great deal by what item is being signed. For instance, are they signing a glossy photo or a baseball? The glossy will of course have a much smoother stroke to the letters. Also, where the autograph is signed affects stroke. If the celebrity is sitting at a table signing autographs the stroke is going to be much smoother than if they are walking across the parking lot and stop to sign an autograph with little or no support for the object they are signing.
When someone writes, the stroke is generally smooth and this can be seen in the darkness of the ink left behind. If the person stops or slows the pen as they are writing then more ink is left behind making a spot in the autograph that is darker.
There are naturally darker areas left behind as well. Like when the pen crosses over a line while making letters.
The dark places that you will want to pay attention to are those that should not be there. Like in the middle of a letter where there is not a crossing line. For instance if you see a capital "C" and there are dark spots, then the person may have been hesitating while making it. Which is something that inexperienced forgers will do.
Pressure is the amount of pressure applied to the pen as each letter is made. This is most noticeable on cross line letters like "t" or at the end of the name. The pressure lessens as the pen reaches the end of the letters making a "fading" line. Letters at the end of the name are often fading letters so check to see if there are any letters that fade or do they just stop.
While the above information is very simple it is enough to keep you from buying a forgery. You just need to start practicing and develop a sharp eye for detail.
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