SAS - Authentication

Signatures in general

The average celebrity begins their journey in the public eye as an average person just like you and me. Most begin signing autographs the same way you and me sign our checks or a mortgage document. In essence, the way we practiced our signature in our day to day lives. But for a celeb, that changes with time.

When you see full spelled out signatures on an item, authenticated, chances are that item may have been signed very early on in a celebrity’s career.

What changes for a celebrity over time is the volume of autographs demanded of them. And while many celebrities would love to say “no” to an autograph request simply because they may be tired of signing, most celebrities would never risk the potential backlash, all the more in today’s cancel culture society. The minute they do something like that you can be sure TMZ or another media outlet will get it on film, etc. Far too high a price to pay and risk to take for a celeb.

As time passes, most celebrities come up with simplified versions of their fan “autograph” signature both for purposes of speed, ease, and styling. More often than not, their publicists assist them with styling cues for their “celeb signature” as well. That’s the signature version you will see most in the marketplace.

Now when you go to celeb signing events, where they are signing 500 books on a day, or 500 photos, posters, etc, just the physical toll of that repeated process makes most signatures on item / photo # 1 look a lot different from their signature on item / photo # 500. Yet all of the signatures are authentic.

Or imagine catching a celebrity leaving dinner, or hopping out of a car and you ask them for an autograph. What are the odds that signature (completely authentic) will look exactly like, or as neat as, an autograph written with the celebrity at a seated signing event? How does your signature look if you’re walking, someone hands you a pen, holds a photo for you to sign? Yet, all the versions are authentic.

This is one of many challenges facing the authentication industry. Yet technology and the advent of the internet allows most authenticators access to the most voluminous database of information, in this case pictures of signatures, then at any time in history. 40 years ago, prior to the internet, gaining comparative signature samples was far more difficult vs today.

How SAS authenticates

Authentication can use visual samples, styling cues, continuity of stroke, signature versions, many methods to verify authenticity of a signature. It can also attempt to verify a celebrity’s location at a given time / place, use other evidence for confirmation (photos of celebrity actually signing, other) as well as other methods.

Scientific methods are also employed to assist in verifying whether a signature is even old enough or can even possibly be from a deceased celebrity, or if the ink signature itself is even dry enough to be authentic.

SAS employs all of the latest technology and methods to process and verify a signature. Our scoring process also ensures that only signatures that meet a minimum score of 7 out of 10 points on our signature review process can even get authenticated by SAS.

Many other authenticators do not employ scoring methods at all or they may use a simple 50% or less score to authenticate an item. As SAS tends to be an authentication not as easily attained as others in the industry, many a rejected signatures from SAS can be “authenticated” through other companies that offer the service.

SAS Authenticated Items

If your item has been authenticated by SAS, it will have a Hologram decal on it containing a registration number. That number corresponds to information about the authenticated item in our database. This ensures that through resales and the changing of ownership, a collector can confirm that the item was authenticated by SAS and that registration number corresponds to only that particular item.

Initial authentication Hologram registration decals on the actual item are accompanied by a Certificate of authenticity issued by SAS which also contain the same hologram decal and registration number matching that which is on the item authenticated. Owners of the item should retain the certificate of authenticity to accompany the item.