Autograph authentication

[jpenrod]

I know there are several agencies that offer autograph authentication services , what I am wondering is what experiences people have had with these agencies. I have several autographed items and the only ones I have certified are the ones I have recieved from outside sources (baseball cards, team stores, etc.) All of my other autographes are ones I recieved in person and so there is not a real need for me to have them certified; however I have thought about going ahead and having some of them certified just so in the event they are ever sold (either by me or whoever happens to inherit these things from me) there will be some verification that they are in fact authentic. One of the things I have wondered is that with all the variances you see in autographs if any of mine my comeback as fake despite the fact I witnessed the player sign it. part of me wants to submit some of these items for wuthentication just to test the agencies. Has anyone ever had the experience that they submitted an autograph they knew to be authentic come back from one of these agencies as fake?

[SouthSideChamps05]

It's not worth it to have your autographs authentisized. I've never had any authentisized, but I see no need to. You said it yourself, you know they're real, so why do you need someone else to confirm that? The term authentisized is a very loose term, and technically anyone can do it. I can print out my own sheat of paper that says, "This item is guarranteed blablabal...", and thats all I need for it to be authenticated. However, there are a few big name companies, such as Beckett and Steiner that can do it for you, but at a price. The other thing is that you have to send your item through the mail, yikes. It doesn't sound like you sell any of your autographs anyway, but from buying experiences on ebay, autographs that have been authentisized from very trustworthy companies (such as Steiner Sports), dont even sell for that much higher. What I do is always try to take a picture with the player while getting the autograph. They're usually very nice about this, and I have a 2 inch binder full of pictures with me and a player smiling at the camera. I also just put a piece of tape underneath the OMLB case, saying the signees name and year.

[flyingdutchdude]

Like "Southside" said, there is no need to spend the $$ on most modern autographs.

If you have some popular bigger name (bigger $$) items.... ie. Ruth, Clemente, Foxx, Gehrig, Cobb, or scarcer ones like Arky Vaughan, Ross Youngs, etc. then its highly recommended to get them authenticated. Maybe DiMaggio, maybe Williams, and maybe Mantle...... But any and all modern players, its not worth the submission fees....... IMO

[jpenrod]

I appreciate the responses, but I guess I did not really make myself clear in my first post. I am really curious if anyone has ever had the experience of having an autograph rejected for authentication that they knew to be authentic. I guess I am just wondering how foolproof any of these services are. I get all of mine autographed in person because I do not want to play that game of is it authentic or not. the only pieces I currently have that I did not get in person are a dick Groat ball I got from Topps Achives and a Gary Sheffield ball I got from the Braves clubhouse for free when I bought my John Smoltz jersey to have signed.

[YankeeFan01]

I've been wondering this, too.