The Stamp as Signature
Take a look at this closing of a letter from Martin Luther King, Jr. King did sign a lot of his letters, but does...
Autograph authentication: Know the Identified Forgers
Pre-eminent among the known forgers were Robert Spring and Joseph Cosey. Spring lived in the mid-19th century and specialized in Washington autographs. They are...
Autograph authentication: Signed Images
Photographs. The first photographs of people to be mounted on paper (and thus be capable of being signed) were taken about 1845. They measured...
Conduct a Forgery-Avoidance Inspection
The next step in authenticating is simply, does it look right and natural? Sign your own name a few times and look at other...
Steps in Autograph authentication: Apply the Burden of Proof, Ascertain Provenance
Many people start with the idea that an autograph is authentic and look further only if they are suspicious. This is backwards. You must...
Autograph authentication: Assess for Evidence of Facsimile
This word often used to be written fac-simile. It comes from the Latin words “facere” (to make) and “similis” (like), and means an exact...
Autograph authentication: Apply Your Common Sense
Did you ever write to a president about one of his policies and get a thank you letter back? Probably 50,000 Americans wrote a...
Authentication: Know how people signed their names
Is it possible that there is a letter signed by Lincoln with his full signature, Abraham Lincoln? He never signed letters anything but A....
Authentication: Beware Confusions in Identities
How many John Adamses were there in America in 1790? Too many to count. Adams was an extremely common family name in 18th century...
Autograph authentication: Assess Dissimilarities and Idiosyncrasies in the Writing
Not a month goes by that someone doesn’t contact me saying they have an autograph and “know” it is authentic because the writing looks...