A word from Danniel Henny

 

Michael Johnson has obtained over 10,000 autographs in person and has authenticated over 5,000 autographs. He has worked with 100's of athletes and celebrities with private signings and personal appearances. Danniel Henny has over 15 years experience in the autograph industry has taken numerous autograph and handwriting courses during his early days. He has also been trained on Handwriting Analysis and graphology, as well as forensic analysis in signatures and handwriting.

 

 

"The FBI estimates that between 50% and 90% of all collectibles in the marketplace are not authentic." That itself is a scary thought. On top of that, most autograph collectors think that autograph authentication – paying a third party company to certify that an autograph is real - is a logical solution that benefits everyone involved and eliminates counterfeiting. 

 

The main reason why UPAS offers certificates of authenticity, besides abiding by the law, is to make our customers feel safe and in the comfort that they have purchased authentic memorabilia. However in the recent years more people are being concerned with the name of the company that authenticated the item , rather than the person who has signed on the memorabilia.

 

This is so wrong. I have always stressed that autograph authentication is just a professional opinion: i.e. there is a chance we may be wrong. Even the biggest companies have falsely declared authentic memorabilia to be fakes. Just do a google and you will know the famous ones. My advice is, if you really want an autograph of that favorite player, get it yourself.

 

There is no way it can be more authentic than that. Educate yourself on signatures so that you can become your own authenticator and avoid paying that extra $100 just because if has a big fancy company name on the certificate of authenticity. With that, I end off by saying, "Autograph collecting is a great hobby, but if you really must buy from a 3rd party, buy it from someone you really trust".