In this thread and in others, there have been some who have expressed sentiments along the lines of “This is why I would never collect autographs,” etc., etc.
I think it is important to keep this in perspective. While I feel terrible for David’s situation, one assumes much higher risk when going into the deep end of the pool. High dollar items attract master forgers and con men – the types of items that may even fool credible experts.
For the vast majority of “average” collectors (of which I include myself) who collect autographs of Mantle, Williams, Koufax, et.al., there is much less risk. Certainly forgeries of these figures exist, but they are not the master forgeries that can typically fool experts. By educating yourself, networking with experienced collectors, frequenting places like this and buying from good dealers, you can have an autograph collection that is relatively worry-free. Dare I say it lest I risk the scorn of the alphabet bashers
, with your Mantles, DiMaggios, etc., PSA and JSA are reliable with these types of autographs the vast majority of the time and are a relatively safe way to build a collection.