Help with a mantle... Please!
 

So I picked this snapshot up on the bay... Based on the photos I had it looked good, but I got it in hand and it just feels off.. The snapshot is on Kodak line. Paper, but the auto has a certain bleed/flow that I feel may indicate that it is a stamp or an autopen... What savages me more is that I found another red ink sig that looks identical.

Is the signature good? Autopen or other?

I appreciate the feedback.
Dave

And the index card
 

Here is the one that scares me a bit...

I don't like either one as both are missing one of my big tells, but I am still learning all of the variations of Mantle so don't rule them out. Definitely better people to listen to on Mantle than me.

Tom C

one of my big tells is that his signature looks like art work and it fits perfectly in the spot he is signing 99 out of 100. No way, ZERO chance that he signs across that hat where you can't see the "ckey" when there is tons of room. Also, it looks like he's wearing a white uniform he could have easily signed on. The signature doesn't look bad, but where it is located, it is likely a forgery of some type? Hard to tell without having it my hand. Take alcohol to the sharpie and see if it comes off. If not, it's been printed in the pic and it does not have live ink:D I'm not an expert, just a one time Mantle Collector and I would never look twice at this mess, IMHO

Thanks for the feedback guys... I'm not going to apply anything to it... It's definitely not printed as it has some smudging (maybe somewhat attempted to do what you suggested) it even looks live...

Anyone know if mick ever used an autopen?

They are both exactly the same. Probably a stamp.

That has to be a stamp. It is identical. Even how he crosses the T at the end....

it is a stamp. I got the same stamp, in red, returned to me when I wrote to his house in the early 80's

Wow, nice to know terrier and good job Dave scoping it out. Never saw it before:)

That's a plus one:):):)