What Makes Sports Autographs Original?

Seeking authentic baseball autographs in this day and age can be difficult for several reasons. The last thing a collector wants to worry about is whether an autograph is legitimate or not. When you are spending your hard-earned disposable income,  you don’t want to imagine that you are being ripped off. But it’s absolutely the first thing any serious baseball autograph collector should think about. In 2006, the HBO show “Real Sports” unveiled some not so complimentary issues about the baseball autograph collecting hobby/industry.

People were getting scammed hard with forged autographs.

In fact, many baseball autographs are still faked these days for monetary gain and it’s made the industry as a whole very nervous and sometimes difficult to enter for a “newbie:. At the same time, it really makes you appreciate those items in circulation that are legitimate. But how do you determine whether or not an autograph is authentic?  It’s not really that hard and these days there are experts in the field to help separate the good from the bad and make your buying experience much more palatable.

Reputable companies who can provide proper authentication are in high demand due to the amount of non-genuine autographs that still exist; companies that can make the grade, if you will. There are many sports memorabilia authenticators on the internet who provide such a service but we’ve narrowed it down to a handful that are generally well respected in the industry. Here are some companies who can provide that exact expertise to help you avoid fakes and establish a serious autograph collection with as close to ironclad authentication as you can get.  Letters of authenticity are really letters of opinion.  But these companies have studied thousands of exemplars, and are familiar with common fakes, keeping mistakes to a minimum.

PSA/DNA- Professional Sports Authenticator is a third party service that grades sports cards and autographs. It has also been called an “Industry Giant” by those in the know. The services they provide could tell you if a card is mint or not mint or whether a card has been trimmed or not. But they also certify autographs. PSA claims it has the hobby’s most experienced grading experts and it still stands as one of the most trusted in the biz. Their strict standards seem to put them over the top in the eyes of many sports collectors. Once a card or autograph has been certified, the item is marked with an invisible DNA laced link. It is naked to the human eye but it is verifiable through an infrared laser. If you are searching for items on EBAY and you see that an item has been certified by PSA/DNA then you can look it up by a specific number. A Certificate or Letter of A uthenticity also is provided by PSA.

James Spence Authentication- James Spence Authentication is another reputable company offering similar autograph authentication services. JSA provides authentication letters, standard certification and even a clause called “And When I Die”. That program is— you guessed it—centered around a collector’s last will and testament and what to do with a valuable collection once they pass away. James Spence Authentication says it will quickly eliminate the vast majority of non-authentic  autographs.

Global Authentication Inc. – A Pre-Certified Authenticator for Ebay, Global Authentication is another player in the Baseball Autograph Industry.  This company was formed by two former PSA employees and is generally a fairly reputable authentication service.

Mounted Memories – Mounted Memories is another reputable company that authenticates autographs. Just like PSA/DNA and James Spence, Mounted Memories is one of the most recognized names in the sports collectibles industry.  The company usually enters into agreements with the athletes for ‘private signings’ where a player signs a certain number of autographs for a free.  The items are then distributed in the marketplace with a COA.

Steiner Sports- Steiner Sports boasts that it’s the top distributor of authentic sports collectibles since 1992. If you plan to buy from the website, each and every hand signed autograph is witnessed by a Steiner Sports representative.  Like Mounted Memories, Steiner has a large client base among pro athletes and is always adding to it.