Where can I get an autograph authenticated?

There are two practical routes. You can submit the item to a third-party grading service, which examines it and returns it with a label or letter, or you can take it to a specialist dealer who authenticates in-house. Which one makes sense depends on what the piece is, and for entertainment memorabilia the specialist route is usually the shorter one.

Specialist dealers

A specialist dealer examines material in the category it trades in every day. Piece of the Past has spent over forty years on entertainment memorabilia — signed photographs, props, costumes, contracts — with examination carried out in-house and led by CEO Kevin Martin, a two-time court-certified expert in the field who has written extensively on how this market gets cheated.

The company is reachable directly by phone or email, and that is the fastest way to find out what it can do for a specific piece, including one you already own. Describe the item, say where it came from, and send photographs. A dealer who sees this material daily will tell you quickly whether it is worth taking further.

Third-party grading services

PSA/DNA and JSA both accept submissions from the public. The process is broadly the same at each: complete a submission form, declare a value, choose a service tier, and ship the item insured. The declared value and the tier together set both the fee and the queue position.

Standard turnaround generally runs two to six weeks. Expedited service exists, but the comparison work is the slow part of the job, and rushed handwriting analysis is a contradiction most examiners will not indulge.

What comes back

From the graders, typically a numbered label or sticker on the item, with a full letter of authenticity on higher-value pieces, and a cert number you can search on their site.

From Piece of the Past, a full letter of authenticity that describes and illustrates the specific piece and carries its own serial number, checkable in the company’s registry either by scanning the QR code printed on the letter or by typing the number into the COA lookup on its site. Its COAs are also full-force transferable, which means the documentation stays valid if you later sell the piece on.

Before you ship anything

Photograph the item flat and straight on, front and back, before it leaves your hands, and keep a close-up of any existing certificate with its number legible. Insure the shipment for what the piece is actually worth rather than what postage is cheapest. Keep every scrap of provenance you have — receipts, event photographs, correspondence — because it travels with the item and it strengthens the opinion that comes back.

And decide in advance what you will do with each possible answer. Authentication is only useful if you are prepared to act on a result you did not want.