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President's Vintage Signatures: Authentic or Not?

1. Handwritten Documents
It was common in the eighteenth-century for presidents to have secretarial copies made of all their important papers to be kept on file. The secretaries would copy the documents in their own handwriting, sign the president’s name, and below that signature, sign their own. This accounts for the “G. Washington” signatures on authentic period manuscripts. These were carefully marked as file copies.
 
2. Land Agent Signatures
During Lincoln’s presidency, "Lincoln-signed" land grants were being signed regularly by land agents. Land agents were given the authority to sign for the president and then noted with their own signature beneath (e.g., A. Lincoln by John Smith). This was a routine procedure until President Andrew Jackson decided to do away with this time-consuming task.
 
3. Proxy-Signers
A Proxy-signer is someone who has been authorized to act for the signer. Dating back to George Washington, most of the secretaries that have been used by US Presidents to handle their correspondence have acted as proxy-signers, instead of trying to duplicate the presidents signature.
 
4. Forged Autographs
There are many dishonest people out there who will forge autographs in such a way that it is almost impossible for the amateur collector to discern. They will go to great lengths to make their signatures seem authentic. For example, they will use blank pages in old books to write the signatures on to make it appear to be from that era. These forgers are just looking to make money from unsuspecting collectors. If in doubt, consult with a professional collector who should be able to tell the difference between forged and authentic documents.
 
During the Civil War, (Confederate States) President Jefferson Davis had his wife sign many of his dictated letters. She did such a good job that she started putting a period after the signature she wrote so that he could tell which ones she signed.
 
Watch out for other deceiving practices where a page with a President’s quote and signature is cut out from a book and doctored up into something else entirely. Some of these fraudulent creations have included these presidents: George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
 
5. Preprinting
Many sellers on eBay use a method called “preprinting”. The item they are selling may be only a photocopy of an actual autographed photo which has been printed on glossy photo paper. If someone is offering a “preprinted” autographed photo, this information should be made clear to the buyer. However, to be safe, make sure you read all of the fine print before buying anything.
 
6. Hand-Stamp
Some presidents, such as Andrew Johnson, Warren Harding, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, at some previous time, used a rubber or steel hand-stamp to sign their documents.
 
7. Autopen
The autopen is a mechanical pen that makes perfect facsimile (duplicate) signatures using a signature template known as a matrix. Harry Truman is believed to have been the first United States President to use the autopen. From about the Eisenhower era of the 1950s until today, almost all American presidents have had the autopen to reproduce presidential signatures.

Just remember that some unscrupulous autograph sellers may be able to obtain or produce one of these autopen templates to mass-produce autographs for re-sale.

About the Author

DLDowney is an entrepreneur in internet website creation and marketing with previous experience in graphic arts. http://www.booksonbooks.com

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