Of all of the 20th to 21st century autographs of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, there should be no question that a genuine signature of Chief Justice John Roberts is the scarcest/rarest.
Unless you know and have studied autographs, eBay is certainly a place to avoid. There is so much going on in there between corrupt sellers with a thousand or more positive feed backs, an unlimited amout of autographs wrongly authenticated, togerther with Certificates of Authenticity from the three high profile outfits that claim they can authenticate autographs. Flooding the market are those outside the field that just don't know what they are doing.
Here's an example of a seller with 555 POSITIVE feedbacks offering a signed photograph of John Roberts for $2,500.00
Obviously this seller recognizes that anything signed by Roberts is rare for him to put such a high price on a modern day autograph.
Obviously, somehow along the line, this seller finds out his item is machine signed, so what does he do?
He relists the same item and reduces the price to $799. Some uneducated collector thinks they found a bargain. So much for this seller and others like him on eBay.
A similar "signed" photograph can be found at an auction house. This example sold above the estimate at the "bargain" price of only $160.00. Based on the first two illustrations,, this photograph was signed by the same Autopen machine.
How scarce are the autographs of John Roberts?
Look him up on Google. On Wikipedia, this is the example they illustrate of Roberts signarure.
Here's another site many use for reference. Wikimedia Commons.
All five Roberts signatures above are identical. Machine signed.
A lesson to be learned! The following is a genuine example of John Roberts handwriting and signature.
The presentation inscription has been cut away for the purpose of this signature study.
However, in my opinion, this is autograph collecting, and the more writing the better. Are you going to pass on a Lincoln signed book because it is inscribed to an individual? To me, with an inscription, it makes the book more desirable and adds to the value.
Highly recommended, if you are going to purchase any autograph, make sure they are members of PADAH. The PADAH (Preferred Autograph Dealers and Auction Houses) family is the largest group of autograph professionals in the world. Buy with confidence!
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