| DIRECTORY |
Atrocious Authentications
Atrocious Authentications has been created for the sole purpose of educating autograph collectors of the dangers of those who claim they are able to authenticate autographs. Some will tell you that the business of authenticating autographs is the biggest scam in the hobby. When someone who has been burnt with a mis-authenticated autograph and takes the matter to court, a judge has said “everyone has a right to an opinion, there’s no law against being stupid!” No one or company has been singled out! This site does not take advertisements so there is no one being protected because they are a supporter. Printed below are the results of those that claim they are experts yet make atrocious errors in their assessment of whether an autograph is genuine or not. The cost of these errors many times can reach a fee of $300 for their “opinion.” As a matter of fact, if you try to find out who at a company made the “opinion” you have little or no chance of ever finding this out. The PADAH Reference Library has the largest collection of Certificates of Authenticity in the hobby. Those who have seen the files are shocked at how many unscrupulous sellers of autographs have produced useless COA’s for non-genuine autographs Same goes for the high-profile companies who have glutted the market with mistakes yet claim to authenticate autographs. It is amazing to see how many genuine autographs have been deemed to be un-authentic and visa-versa how many non-genuine autographs certified as genuine. Before any story on this site is printed, usually at a minimum, three genuine experts have ruled on the facts. Should anyone have a comment on a story and can prove a story is not accurate, please email skoschal@aol.com We would love to hear comments from our readers. 
Who Is The Best There’s so much negative talk amongst collectors about how poorly is the accuracy of the so called autograph authenticating companies.
A Short Ride Through Autograph Silly Land There seems to be a pattern, when we write an article about authenticating forged autographs, the name of Beckett Authentication comes up and not in a good way. You can see their lead authenticator, Steve Grad who appears occasionally as the “autograph expert” on the TV series Pawn Stars.
The Value of a Beckett Authentication Recently we came across a vey poor looking forgery of Babe Ruth. Being offered in an auction. This signature was authenticated “as genuine” by Beckett and placed in a Beckett plastic coffin. Beckett Authentication # 083241973425171.
Real Deal or Scam You Decide In the next three stories, you will decide whether the autograph hobby is in need of a third-party authenticator.  PSA/DNA “experts” decided this is a genuine signature Did Aaron forget how to spell his name?  Now if the first example is genuine, how did this one pass?  Can you find any similarities from this one to the two above.  Here’s another example where supposedly Aaron leaves out the “”n” in Hank and part of his last name.  Here’s a strange one, just look at the “Hank”...is Arron any better  Illustrated is the last one. Does it appear to you that all six were signed by the same hand? Which one, IF ANY do you feel comfortable and would like in your collection? PSA/DNA charges $30 to authenticate a Hank Aaron signed ball. Next course is Hank Aaron signed balls
Real Deal or Scam You Decide Part Two * JSA Authentication  Let’s give JSA the benefit of the doubt, looks weird but maybe real? You decide, you may be more accurate.  If this one above is genuine how can the first one be possibly real. More troublesome is how can the same company say they are both genuine?  Someone at JSA decided the above two are genuine, where does the above fit in? Doesn’t the bottom of the “H” in Hank look like an anchor of a small boat? How about the “l” in Hank? Looks just like the “K’s” in all the other Hanks? Put on different glasses…the “A” in Aaron is right on! Yes, let’s pass this gem as genuine.  Wow! This is very convincing. The “H” in Hank looks spot on. One can easily see Hank took his time penning the “H.” The unsureness at the end of the “H” and that long tail at the end is convincing. This one must be the best as you can read the “ank” in Hank. Just a little troubling is the “A” in Aaron. That umbrella on top of the “A” in Aaron is a little different than all the ones we have seen thus far. Leaning toward this one has a chance at being genuine. Let’s move on.  This is getting more and more difficult. This is why we are not expert authenticators. Nice flow with this example. Maybe he started to inscribe this baseball to “Stan.”  OOPS, Hank, you did it again, you spelt your name wrong. But close enough to get $45.00 from the collector for an expert authentication and keep the customer happy.
Real Deal or Scam You Decide Part Three * Beckett Authentication  Are we happy with the bowling pin looking “H” in Hank is convincing? The “a” in Hank and the attached swirl and oversized looking small “e” has a nice flow. The small “a” in Aaron and the “euu” is just the way you want to see it. If they say it’s genuine, that’s gospel. Pay them the 50 bucks they charge. Now try to sell the ball…you may need to get a second opinion from another expert. After all there’s two more professional autograph authenticating companies to choose from and both say they are the greatest.  Let’s get by this one quickly as we can call it the Hank “Adios” signature.  Now here’s the bargain of the course. $1500. No comment on this one. Do we believe it is self-explanatory? Another $50 in the company’s coffers. It doesn’t have to be real just COA’D TO BE AUTHENTIC.  This is an interesting example. Wonder how long it took the experts to authenticate this as genuine. Do you think the “expert” at Beckett called another for a second opinion. What stands out is the “g” in “Aaron.” The rest looks like ”ausn” or “ai” can’t decipher the next letter and then possibly an “n.”  Let’s just move along and call this the “Hail” and runaway signature. Ca Ching! Another $50. How long did you have to wait to get the certificate for this ball?  And the last one has a chance… The last top of the “H” looks like a “6.” Impressed is that little tail or flag added to the “6.” convincing is the lack of the “n” in Hank and whatever is that “c” for a “K.” Impressive the “A”in Aaron appears to be “Al.” And the rest of “aron” you go figure. That’s why you are paying an “expert” for an opinion. Since all 18 illustrations in the three courses were all determined to be authentic by these companies.....can you even image what they may have turned down? In conclusion you most likely have figured out that most who call themselves “experts” really have no clue how to authenticate. Why should they? Find one so-called expert who has a legitimate background in the business of autographs. Try to find one “expert” who will discuss autograph authentication. We have tried “in writing” for several years and not a single request was responded to. Ask yourself, why are they in hiding. The results of this course maybe the answer. Most agree, since the creation of the so-called companies who claim to authenticate autographs, the hobby is not in a better place. Forgers have found a way to get their creations passed as genuine. Auction houses can now say, “we don’t care if its good or bad, it just needs to come with a COA.” We are off the hook! The amount of non-genuine autographs with a COA stating the item is genuine is not to be believed. The high number of “genuine” autographs failed by the so-called experts is just as amazing. Just to mention for the record, most so-called authenticating companies have a blacklist. If they don’t like the submitter, the item usually fails. If they don’t like collectors or dealers who write similar articles such as this, you have no chance of getting something passed as genuine. The only way to avoid this is don’t pay for an uneducated “guess” or “opinion.” Support the professional autograph dealers who are members of “PADAH.” Ther are over 70 of them who are not required to give a refund based on an “opinion” or “guess” from a third party company who claims to authenticate autographs. In addition to their own reference, each member has access to the largest library of exemplars in the business should they need it.
There seems to be no end in autograph authenticating screw-ups. The following is so sad as someone is playing a sick trick to a father who lost his famous daughter.  Reference Book On Muhammad Ali’s signature The following illustration is taken from the catalog of the auction house.  “Experts” at Beckett and PSA authenticated this letter to be handwritten and signed Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay In this letter there are over 100 words said to be written by Muhammad Ali. Can anyone find just one word that resembles Muhammad Ali’s handwriting? There is no reason to read down to the signatures because they are in the same handwriting. The individual who wrote this letter did not even try to imitate the handwriting of Muhammad Ali. Some wonder how much was paid to Beckett and PSA to authenticate this item. Everyone wonders if the winning bidder, even today, knows they have a worthless letter that they paid over $3,000 plus buyer’s premium. Eventually, they will find out after they try to sell this letter to a professional autograph dealer.
All too often atrocities in the field of autograph authentication arise. The problems with authenticating autographs by persons with little and even no background authenticating is advertised by companies as being “experts.” This following is sad and just one example of an individual at “Beckett” that has no clue what they are doing. The illustration of a boxing magazine cover, see below, has a Beckett authenticated sticker affixed to the bottom right corner. Sticker ID# G69563.  Fight Game Magazine, July 1999 First things first, it is well known in the autograph industry never to affix a sticker or otherwise deface an original item of any kind. It devalues the autograph item but in this particular case, it really doesn’t matter. According to the autograph “expert” at Beckett, the cover of this magazine is signed by Evander Holyfield. We have to assume that the “expert” has gone to Beckett’s source of exemplars and after careful study authenticated this signature of Evander Holyfield is being genuine. According to several genuine experts, this signature on the magazine cover is that of Bert Sugar. Thus, the magazine is ruined, the sticker hurts it more, and authenticating the wrong person makes it ready for the trash. Some uniformed collector, bought the signed magazine and paid for a worthless authentication. Just one more reason why over 70 members of the “PADAH” Preferred Autograph Dealers and Auction Houses are not required to issue a refund based on any opinion/guess issued by Beckett Authentication Services..
This time they messed up on a signature of Coretta Scott King. In March of 2018 Beckett guaranteed a signature of Coretta Scott King on a letter to be Beckett Guaranteed genuine. See below.   Guaranteed Genuine by Beckett A few years later Beckettt passed as genuine a First Day cover bearing the identical signature as the letter above. This cover was selling for $484.38. Obviously a signature signed by the Autopen. See below.   Autopen Signature of King passed authentic by Beckett Recently, bidding over on October 26, 2023 the same cover passed once before by Beckett now being offered at a reduced price of $299.95 Cover, Autopen signature of King at reduced price. Typed letter signed dated August 28, 1968 with same Autopen signature of Coretta Scott King. It certainly appears that Beckett does not maintain a file on signatures where they can reference past authentications with a newly submitted signature. Interesting, cannot find on the Beckett web site any listing of the names of their autograph authenticators. In this case more than one person paid for a bad opinion
Here's a Test, You Decide On Muhammad Ali's Autograph The following educational study is not to embarrass any one person or company. It’s just a short course to give everyone a chance to see how these third-party authentications operate.  Beckett charges $100 to Authenticate an Ali Autograph. Let’s go to a couple of items of Ali authenticated, as genuine by PSA/DNA. Can anyone figure out the two signatures on the gloves below? Could Ali have signed in Arabic? PSA/DNA’s website states they are the “world’s leading third-party authentication service.”  Let’s try the next thirty party autograph authentication company who also claims to be “world’s leader in autograph authentication and foremost autograph authentication company in the world.” Makes one feel quite comfortable there are two companies who believe they are the world’s leader in authenticating autographs. Let’s take a peek at their work. They charge $75 to authenticate, a bargain versus Beckett, yet one can add an additional $50 for expedited service. The following 6 illustrations are signatures believed to be genuine by JSA. Should you have the slightest knowledge of Muhammad Ali’s signature which ones, if any illustrated above would you consider to be genuine. With a little bit of knowledge, it should be easy for you to detect that some different hands signed these gloves.   Now you have spent time examining the nine signatures above. You are either totally confused how some or any of these signatures were passed by the world’s leading third-party authentication services. Illustrated below is a glove with a little more writing to work with. The owner felt since it comes with the Certificate of Authenticity from Steiner Spots, there is no reason to pay for an additional COA from one of the “world’s leading autograph authentication companies.” Anyone with some knowledge of Ali’s signature will tell you this “Muhammad Ali Aka Cassius Clay” is the real deal.  After seeing the work done by the three “world’s leading authentication companies” see the difference in the above Steiner authenticated signed glove. The following genuine signed glove of Ali is nearly identical to the Steiner example. Look closely and notice that the signatures are very close but not the same glove.  The above signed glove was submitted to JSA Authentication Services, and they have determined the signatures of Ali and Clay are not authentic. Besides the possibility of having little expertise authenticating Muhammad Ali signatures, the only reason this signed glove did not pass is if the submitter is on the authenticating company’s blacklist. When this happens, they will usually state the signature will likely fail or it cannot be authenticated. This is common practice and submitters end up paying for their genuine item and having it failed. The purchaser of the above glove is very upset that it was turned down as he is familiar with Ali’s signature, and this is why he purchased it. The purchaser has contacted JSA on a few occasions to try and find out “who” has offered their opinion on this signed glove. After several requests, which must have been annoying, he finally got a response. “The whole company decided it was not genuinely signed.” However not a single person at JSA will take responsibility for not passing the signatures on this glove. The head of the JSA company has had serious problems in the past authenticating the signature of Muhammad Ali. A well-known example was back in 2003 where a signed limited-edition lithograph thought to be at least 100 copies was authenticated, as genuine. It was later proven that the signatures on the print were signed by Ali’s wife, Khalilah Ali. The authenticator scrambled around the USA trying to recover the authenticated examples. The PADAH library has at least 40 of the COA’s signed by the wife. There lithographs authenticated by Ali’s wife and the authenticator were selling for $750.00 after they were issued. In 2007 they were being offered on eBay for $1,099.95 and at the National show they were asking $2,000 for one of the “signed” lithographs. It’s common practice with these third-party companies to reverse their “guess” if you can get to someone within the company and convince them that the signatures are genuine. Doing so is near impossible unless you know someone who knows someone in the company. The lack of expertise authenticating Ali autographs and hundreds of other names with third party authenticators needs the attention of law enforcement. Presently there are 75 professional autograph dealers, all members of PADAH who no longer are required to issue a refund based on the guesses of third-party authenticating companies.
Opportunity to Meet Autograph Collectors and Praise Your Companies For five years in a row, both Steve Grad and James Spence have been invited to an autograph authentication seminar. Not one of the two has ever responded! With all the negative talk in the press, and with the collecting public about autograph authentication, slabbing and placing foreign stickers on genuine items and in many cases on non-genuine items, once again here is the opportunity for these two who claim to be “experts” on authenticating autographs, to face the collecting public and tell their side of the story. For the fifth year in a row, and having no responses, illustrated are copies of letters mailed a few months ago for 2024.  
So you just purchased an autographed item and feel in order to try and resell it some collectors think they want to have it authenticated. May times collectors fall into the following trap. This following item, a John Stockton basketball card was sent to JSA Authentication. What the collector paid for a JSA “opinion” is unknown but happily the item came back with a full Letter of Authenticity claiming the company’s considered “opinion” is that the signature is genuine. Whose considered “opinion” is not posted on the Letter of Authenticity. Now, the collector is willing to spend more of his money to have the basketball card put in a plastic slab, some refer to a coffin. On the way it goes to PSA/DNA with a check. Shocked, the item comes back as not authentic and refused to be placed in one of their plastic holders. The collector, quite upset as he paid to purchase the card and now has paid for two “opinions.” An email from the collector says: “...Well their mistake cost me on the conflicting “opinions”....” and is looking for guidance. Would spending more money for a third opinion be wise? After all the collector could settle for two out of three....  This is a name worth watching. Readers may remember Darvick putting out a children’s book on autographs. In one copy he wrote the following.  For years he denied forging the signatures of presidents of the United States. It took many years of pressure to finally get him to agree, in writing, that he did forge. He even listed the names of the presidents he forges. In his mind, thinking he is so good he began writing notes to Lee Harvey Oswald from Lyndon B. Johnson stating about their deal in Dallas. Darvick commented to one dealer, someday these will be worth a lot of money.  The old UACC expelled Darvick for serious reasons.  Look at a Darvick COA below. Read his qualifacations. IMPRESSED? Consultant for this, consultant for that....PSA/DNA Expert, JSA Expert, SGC Expert, CAS Authenticator......  The autograph illustrated on the COA above was sold by Darvick. We have the original document and file that goes with it in the IACC/DA library. A recent letter from a collector states the signature on this document is not original but printed. So much for the impressive qualifications of Herman Darvick.  Should collectors have something sold by Darvick in the past, double check your autographs. He may be best known for making the signatures of Shoeless Joe Jackson common. Normally we try to focus on the high-porfile authenticators but there are so many certificates coming out from PAAS that this one person outfit is turning out so many mis-authenticated autographs, they are worth mentioning. Many of the non-genuine autographs certified as genuine can be found on the internet in places most collectors would not see. The person running this outfit goes by the name of Mike Frost and Dr. Mike Frost. From law suit records filed against him we find his real name is Michael Feigenbaum. It is difficult to track him down as his address seems to change every few years. He is well known in the sports industry for producing and selling all those Mickey Mantle baseballs with the foul language inscribed on them. I have personally seen shelves of these baseballs in his office. Frost said he won't selll them till after Mantle's passing. The following two illustrations are a sample of his poor judgement or simply lack of expertise.   Two items he claims are genuine and certified by PAAS. Add insult to injury, he attaches a sticker to the front of each item which devaluates the item even if it was genuine. The signatures on these two color prints are signed by the same hand, but certanily not by the hand of Stan Lee. Priced on the verso is stickers stating the sale price is $795.00 each. It is highly recommended to pay close attention to items that comes with a PAAS Certificate of Authenticity Means little and sometimes a huge smokescreen. Here’s one example to keep an eye on. Take a look at these qualifications. Impressive? Not if you saw the large collection of COA’s for non-genuine items held in the IACC/DA Reference Library. This seller of autographs deals in most everything everything from signed oversized photographs, album pages, a hearty supply of signed record albums, signed sketches and more. Specializing but not limited to modern celebrities and music. The following two illustrations are a sample of the type items certified as genuine by this seller of autographs. Here is an item that is trying to be sold authenticated by Kevin Martin of Piece of the Past. A Sidney Poitier 8”x10” signed photograph with a sentiment with a Kevin Martin, Piece of the Past COA.    Actually a Common preprint Those in the know say PREPRINT. Occasionally some sellers are fooled by a preprint, but this seller has the largest collection of non-genuine items on file with the COA Reference Library. We have questioned Kevin Martin numerous times about forged autographs that comes with his COA. Same answer, it’s a fake COA...much more on this later. Here’s a fine example to study. Examine this Letter OF Authenticity. First paragraph: “This letter will serve as a certificate of authenticity for a/an Franklin Pierce signed cut, which we thoroughly examined.”  Let’s see who examined this “CUT.” First signature on behalf of the Autograph Authentication Team makes it appear they don’t want you to know who it is. Second signature Brian Sobrero, never heard of him before being on these COA’s Third Signature Zach Rullo..same as above Fourth Signature Steve Grad…Known for being removed from the Chicago Sports Convention Fifth Signature John Reznikoff..was this before or after the hobby shocker Marilyn Monroe/John F. Kennedy fiasco Sixth Signature. Bob Eaton..so many mistakes would fill a few volumes of books Seventh Signature Bob Zafian..same as second and third signature James Camner...only deals in opera Rich Consola.same as 3, 4 and 7th signatures Kevin Keating..still tring to convince him of his mistakes on the Christy Mathewson signed books All these experts and not one knew or understand this is not a “cut” of a Franklin Pierce signature. Actually this is a wonderful what appears to be a black bordered envelope that bears a “Free Franking Signature” of Frankin Pierce. This is a horrific example of mis-identification which there is simply no excuse. The difference in value between a “cut” signature and a Free Franking signature on an envelope is significant. Authenticating Autographs has been a serious problem since the early 90’s. This is about when non autograph experts began authenticating. As of today, the problem has gone from serious to a disaster. There are thousands of autographs that have been authenticated by the high-profile authenticators that have been mis-authenticated. It goes both ways. GENUINE AUTOGRAPHS ARE CERTIFED AS NOT AUTHENTIC, and forged, preprinted, secretarial and machine signed signatures are certified as genuine. Whose to blame, the so-called authenticators found out with little knowledge of the subject how to make a quick buck. One so called authenticator once told me all you need to become an authenticator is to have pen and paper and an opinion. This fellow is now active and is a favorite amongst forgers. He once said, why turn down anything, if I did, I would usually lose that customer. Another very high-profile authenticator (James Spence) at a Virginia Sports Show once failed my dozen signed Mickey Mantle baseballs that a customer of mine was interested in purchasing. Truth is, I stood in line years before at a Philadelphia show and paid Mickey $25 per autograph ticket. After many years passing, the balls were stored in a dark closet, some started to discolor in places while a few signatures started to bleed. It was time to sell them. Another high-profile so called authenticator, was removed by police at a Chicago National Sports Convention for selling forged autographs to dealers. Years later when asked in Court if he was the person that did this his answer was “I don’t recall.” Paying these incompetent authenticators $300 to give an opinion on a Babe Ruth signature is insanity. Many collectors will spend this in a heartbeat yet will spend hours debating which dryer they should purchase for about the same amount of money at Home Depot. There is somewhat of a solution. There is 70+ professional autograph dealers that collectors can purchase from. The group is PADAH. These dealers are the best in the business and everything they sell is guaranteed genuine! Most importantly, not one of them is obliged to give a refund based on an opinion from the high-profile companies who claim to authenticate signatures. Always ask the dealer if they are a member of PADAH. A judge said in court “...that everyone has a right to an opinion.... there’s no law against being stupid.” On this site will be posted some of the outrageous sophomoric mistakes that were made by high profile authenticators. This site was not created to embarrass anyone. It is here to educate the international autograph community and with the hopes that someone will notice their autographs on this site and return it to the so-called expert (company) who made such a mistake and attempt to get a refund. I clearly remember a major sports autograph dealer in Florida named Rick Kohl of Strike Zone. He always said, “I don’t care if an autograph is good or bad.†As long as one of the authenticators says it’s good, I’ll sell it.†Rick being a big supporter of the authenticating companies made sure they knew if they failed something of his, he would not use them again. For years I have attempted to give the big three a chance in public to speak to collectors and defend their authenticating skills. All this at a hotel convenient to them at no cost to them. For over 5 years not one of them has taken me upon this project. One of the three high profile authenticating companies has removed the names of their so-called experts and now just has a signature that cannot be identified, who is representing the authenticating team. It is impossible to find out who the person is that turned down the autograph you may have received in person.  I have said this for years: “Companies do not authenticate autographs, people do!” A person who signs a COA, is usually not the so-called expert who actually made the final decision on your submission.  Woody Allen certified authentic by Beckett (Steve Grad, lead authenticator). ACTUALLY, this is a genuine signature of Willie Nelson. When a celebrity passes the craziness begins with their autograph.The insanity usuallly doesn't last long. The autograph of Jimmy Buffett should be no exception. The following autographs of Jimmy Buffett are considered genuine by experts. Study them carefully. Best way to find a genuine signature of Buffett is in one of his books. But even this is not gospel!  NOW LET’S SEE WHAT THE EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY  Average eBay seller stating this is a reproduction, is he right? PSA/DNA disagrees. WHAT SAY YOU!  Let’s give PSA/DNA a second try….  Check above with the 5 known genuine signatures, and let’s move on. Let’s give JSA (Jimmy Spence) a shot at it......     These are 3 of the many we had to choose from... do any come close to the 5 originals? Let’s see what kind of luck we have with Steve Grad of Beckett Remember the three following below are just a sample of what we had to choose from   Who was more accurate, PSA/DNA, JSA, Beckett or? You decide... Charges for Authenticting Jimmy Buffett PSA/DNA...? JSA.........$50 Beckett......$75 |
