Some third party authentication companies will glance at your autographed memorbillia and instantly tell you it's not genuine, but not before charging you a huge fee to do so.
Make Sure You Do Not Fall Victim to Third Party Authentication Companies.
Autograph Authentication “BEWARE”
Not For The Faint of Heart
Should you be a newcomer to having an autograph authenticated by one of the so-called companies who claim to be able to authenticate an autograph, the following story is just the tip of the iceberg.
Should you choose to go this route, you will be on your own and you will learn the hard way!
One word of advice before getting started, find a professional autograph dealer to have an item authenticated. There are over 75 professional autograph dealers worldwide who are proud members of PADAH (Preferred Autographs Dealers and Auction Houses).
The following is an illustration of the conclusion of a handwritten letter by Mohandas Gandhi. This partial portion of the letter states: “(i)s my autograph. Yours sincerely M.KGandhi.”
SEE BELOW.
This item was to be sold at a February 2006 auction by Heritage Auction Galleries. Heritage in need of an autograph authentication chose PSA/DNA to authenticate the item. Frightening from the wording in the second line of the COA it states: “Heritage Auction Galleries describes the item(s) as:…just a signature “MK. Gandhi”….the signature is in fine condition, the signature has been clipped from a larger document….” See Letter of Authenticity below.
As you can see, what PSADNA did for their fee is improperly describe this item which will without a doubt affect the value of this autograph when it is sold. Some of these types of companies charge a minimum of $300 to authenticate a signature of Gandhi.
The letter of Authenticity continues: “ For information on how to receive a full authentication upgrade on the item(s) above, please contact…..for details”. PSADNA’S “experts” are listed at the bottom of the letter. Most interesting is if you have time, do a little research on the history of the names listed. Most find it shocking!
Now that PSADNA states the autograph is genuine, the Gandhi item was sold at Heritages 2/21/2006 auction.
EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER, when experts “should” have 18 more years of experience, this same Gandhi autograph is sold in another auction. The buyer decides to do the unthinkable and send it to PSADNA for their “expert” opinion.
This time on Thursday, January 24, 2004 PSA Authentication sends a letter stating “PSADNA Authentication Services has examined the aforementioned signature(s) and in our opinion it is not authentic and did not pass PSADNA authentication. . The item has a “?AUTHTCT” sticker attached to it.
The “?AUTHTCT” sticker indicates that your item exhibits one or more of the following.
Nine items for rejection are listed below, not one checked off.
- Atypical letter slant, angle and/or pitch.
- Drawn slowly.
- Excessive pen pressure and/or improper shading.
See Above Unbelievable….THE ITEM IS WRITTEN IN PENCIL.
- Irregular letter shape and/ or formation.
- Irregular spacing between letters,
- Lacks spontaneity, rhythm, conviction and / or movement.
- Poor line quality and transition between connective strokes.
- Sizing of letters disproportionate / Exaggerated / Undersized
- Other
TAKE NOTICE No “experts” have their signatures placed at the bottom of this rejection letter. If they truly believe they have an expert on their staff, why hide their name? Why not check off a box or two why the item is rejected?
What you now see after someone paying two fees for the same autograph to the same company tells a full story of wasting time and money.
Two well know dealers in this industry have said that there should be a Number 11 on their rejection letter stating the item came from a dealer on their “blacklist." It is well known that all of the high profile companies that claim to authenticate have a "blacklist." If the item is sold by certain dealers the item in most cases fails, in other cases it comes back as not being able to be authenticated.
Next step is trying to get a refund from the company you purchased the autograph. Then why, first they said is was good, now they say it is not genuine. If purchased on the internet, good luck. This would not have even happened if purchased from a reputable dealer member of PADAH. Always ask dealers if they are a member of PADAH before making the purchase.
The partial letter of Gandhi has been personally examined by two members of PADAH. The conclusion is the letter is 100% g genuine and hand signed by Mohandas Gandhi.
See below.
Moral of this story; how much more proof does anyone need that companies who claim to authenticate autographs, can’t get it right? There’s so much more to be written on this subject!
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