"The Unauthenticatables"

[T206Collector]

My endless pursuit of autographed T206 cards often forces me to buy cards that have not been authenticated. Frequently, a signature is convincing, even though I am unable to find any examples of the signature against which to compare it. And the seller isn't making forgeries, he's just selling a card that has definitely been signed by someone -- perhaps even the player himself. The problem is, not only can't I find an exemplar -- neither can PSA/DNA or JSA. In fact, the sad truth is, some signatures are so obscure that even if they were genuine, the experts can't confirm it or deny it. They can only tell you the factors that suggest it could be real, and the reasons they think it might be fake.

The three examples below fall into this category. I absolutely love the Frank Smith, which has been artfully signed in white by someone with a smooth hand. James Spence took a picture for his files, but had nothing against which to compare it. Maybe one day, an identifying exemplar of Smith's will turn up and uncover whether this is the genuine article or not.

The McElveen is an ugly card with an interesting signature. It doesn't have the traditional hallmarks of a fake, as it is small and unassuming. However, given that McElveen died in 1951, this gave McElveen precious few years to sign T206 cards in ballpoint - as this one was - since ballpoint pens only came into vogue shortly after World War II. PSA/DNA found the signature to have questionable authenticity, and JSA couldn't authenticate it either. The reason? Again, nothing against which to compare it.

Finally, good old Gus Dorner. This one is pretty clearly just an identifying mark of a collector, who wanted for some reason to put the player's full name on the back of his card in pencil. However, if it were real, we wouldn't be able to authenticate it -- this is a Minor League card of a player who played sporadically in the Majors only through 1909. Again, no exemplars available.

So what do you do when you come across signed cards that can't be authenticated by anyone? If a player signed few autographs during his lifetime, that makes them rare -- and valuable, but only if the signature can be confirmed as real. Ironically, the rarer the signature, the less valuable it can become. If there's only one -- and there were no witnesses -- then how do you know it is real at all?

[egbeachley]

Checks? But I guess nobody kept those. Maybe important documents like a Will or mortgage.

BTW, I would guess the Smith is not a signature but someones attempt to put a name on the card since it was miscut at the bottom.

[Jacklitsch]

Very nice writeup.

Have you tried contacting the County Clerk where they died to see if there is a Will on file? They are public record and you should be able to get a copy.

Good luck with your quest.

(Can I have my Paddy back? )

[wonkaticket]

If that Smith auto is real he had one really nice sig. Neat cards Paul.

[milkit1]

Here is my contribution a t205 lewis richie with an autograph on back. No idea if its his. Im leaning towards no because its such a generic autograph but that doesnt mean anything either.

2011-04-02_08-08-23_69.jpg

[novakjr]

Sean, well we can rule it out as labeling by the collector, since the name is already on the back twice. That right there would actually lead me to believe that it may be real. But then again collector's have always done strange things. I've never quite understood autographs on the back of a card either. I picked up a '64 Ernie Banks, that "someone wrote on the back of"(according to the seller) a while back for under $5. I was pleasantly surprised when that writing turned out to be a legit Ernie signature.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

If that Smith auto is real he had one really nice sig. Neat cards Paul.

Agreed, that Smith looks really nice in white.

[milkit1]

Hi David!

That is a good point. Also if he was signing it in pencil it would make sense for him to sign it on back as it would show up more. It s a shame there arent more autograph examples of these more obscure players

[Bridwell]

Here's an example of a Frank Smith autograph from a book I have. To me, it doesn't look like the same person who signed your T206. Of course, the sources for the book could be wrong. I agree there are few examples known of these players.