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Posted By: Rhys

According to some experts that I know (not PSA/DNA) there are less than 10 authentic Matty single signed balls in existance and almost all which have been authenticated are old fakes. It is also thought that at least 80-90% of the cuts and 3X5 cards (and probably more) are fake. A good way to get his autogrpah is to buy a presentation copy of his books. While some people think these were ghost signed, the vast majority thinks these are real and they present nice examples of his signature. It really does not make sense that Matty would ghost sign a couple hundred books which he wanted to sell and make money off them.

There is an article in the SCD this week about Matty's signature with examples, however, that guy is overly pessimistic in regard to signatures. His knowledge is good, but he is the type of guy who would say he has never seen a mint baseball card. His estimates on the numbers of fakes out there are high, but it gets the point across to be very very very cautious when looking for a Mathewson signature.

My suggestions would be

ONLY buy an ink signature and analyze it thoroughly as no ink signature that is 80 years old will still be bold and dark, they all should be at least slightly faded.

Look for items which can help with authentication like programs in which he was actaully at the event, or cuts from letters or checks.

A pencil signed cut signature of a rare HOF player has about a 99.99% chance of being fake.

Expect to pay about $2000 for a legitimate cut, and about $5,000 for a presentation copy of his book, and about $6000 for a signed check.

Rhys (all information regarding autographs is my opinion, same as the authentication companies).