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Does it look authentic?

Looking at the photo, this certificate is the kind of thing that anyone could produce at home on their computer.

I am not aware of any 'test' that can prove that a signature is MJ's. Unless there is a photo of him signing it, or some other corroborative evidence eg an official letter eg from Sony to say that an item was bought at a charity auction or otherwise given/sold to the recipient, there is no proof for any signature. It all comes down to 'believing the seller.' If the seller has a good reputation to maintain, eg a reputable auction house, then you can have some (not necessarily 100%) confidence in the authenticity.

Personally I would steer clear of anything without proper 'provenance' ie some sort of genuine, provable history or believable connection to MJ. On this one, I would not believe it to be authentic on the basis of the evidence shown.

(The signature itself has some similarities with 'genuine' ones, and also some differences. I don't think it is possible to judge authenticity on the basis of the signature alone, as there are some excellent fakes on the market. The key is the 'history' of the item, and the evidence provided for that history.....eg who obtained it from Michael, how, when, where....and where has it been bought and sold since, and what evidence of that 'chain' of ownership does the seller have.)
 
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myosotis said:
Looking at the photo, this certificate is the kind of thing that anyone could produce at home on their computer.

I am not aware of any 'test' that can prove that a signature is MJ's. Unless there is a photo of him signing it, or some other corroborative evidence eg an official letter eg from Sony to say that an item was bought at a charity auction or otherwise given/sold to the recipient, there is no proof for any signature. It all comes down to 'believing the seller.' If the seller has a good reputation to maintain, eg a reputable auction house, then you can have some (not necessarily 100%) confidence in the authenticity.

Personally I would steer clear of anything without proper 'provenance' ie some sort of genuine, provable history or believable connection to MJ. On this one, I would not believe it to be authentic on the basis of the evidence shown.

(The signature itself has some similarities with 'genuine' ones, and also some differences. I don't think it is possible to judge authenticity on the basis of the signature alone, as there are some excellent fakes on the market. The key is the 'history' of the item, and the evidence provided for that history.....eg who obtained it from Michael, how, when, where....and where has it been bought and sold since, and what evidence of that 'chain' of ownership does the seller have.)
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Thanks for this....I've never bought anything of the sort online in terms of his autograph or anything, mostly because you never know if it's real or not :mello:....It's always good to know how to break it down and at least have a little bit of confidence in regards this type of thing...:)
 
Arklove said:
Thanks for this....I've never bought anything of the sort online in terms of his autograph or anything, mostly because you never know if it's real or not :mello:....It's always good to know how to break it down and at least have a little bit of confidence in regards this type of thing...:)
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Thank you...and you are very welcome!

Celebrity memorabilia is big business these days, and of course the profit someone can make on selling a fake is likely to be much greater than selling the real thing (which would usually have cost quite a bit of money to buy in the first place.)...unless you are buying from the 'first recipient from the celebrity, eg someone who queued and was lucky enough to get something signed. However, a lot of the people who queue are also professional autograph/ memorabilia hunters, who aim to make a living from what they do.

There is often disagreement between experts about the authenticity of signatures...it may depend on their experience, on the examples they have seen and use for comparison...and how honest they are.

If you think of the art market, some fakers have managed to fool the experts for many years, sometimes until 'too many' fakes turn up and dealers get suspicious, or maybe someone 'confesses' to making fakes.

The only thing you can do is be very cautious, and remember that if you ever want (or need) to sell an item, you will need to prove the authenticity to the next buyer....so you need to make sure you have that evidence in the first place, and that you keep it safe, eg your purchase receipts, letters of authenticity, etc). Sometimes, if you can find it, a 'lifetime (of the seller) moneyback guarantee' helps....but don't forget that businesses can go bust! (which would end the guarantee).
 
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Yeah, I agree! it is always a risk when buying signed celebrity items especially on line. A lot of the fraudulent sellers don't care what you have done or looked at and they don't care that they have sold a fake as long as they have your money. They may all kinds of different accounts and online names that most of them are near impossible to track down after the sale is made. Now, things can make a difference, such as how long have then been in biz, what do others say about them, do they typically deal in autographs and so on. if it is a reputable company or even just a small time home based dealer then they have their entire rep leaning on whether it is real or not. So, they are usually safe unless they have been fooled.
 
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