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JSA and PSA/DNA:
Can they tell real from fake?
Earlier this year, an associate of ours brought a few items
to our attention. He was in the possession of two pieces that had been auctioned off at R&R Auctions,
and he had encountered an issue. Because of some information he had come across, he no longer believed
the items were real.He took the items to a laboratory and had
his fears confirmed.The first item is a color 8x10 photograph
signed by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.Meet Joe DiMaggio
and Mickey Mantle.
   When the piece pictured above was sold at R&R Auctions,
it came with the JSA full Letter of Authenticity, complete with JSA sticker B33814 affixed to the photo. It
also came with a PSA/DNA certificate.
The item is confirmable at www.SpenceLOA.com. Your Certificate Is Valid
There’s one main problem with the piece. The JSA certificate states the following: "This document shall serve of a letter of authenticity for the aforementioned item, which James Spence Authentication, LLC has thoroughly examined." The PSA/DNA certificate states the following: "This item has been examined by one or more PSA/DNA experts. On bahlf of Collectors Universe,
it is our considered opinion that the signature(s) is/are genuine. For information on how to receive a full authentication
upgrade on the item(s) above, please contact PSA/DNA for details."Apparently, during this period when the photo was “thoroughly examined”,
neither JSA nor PSA/DNA noticed that the photo is actually a laser print. The signatures have not been
added to the photo, but are actually part of the photo. The signatures were printed onto the
photo paper when the rest of the photo was printed onto the photo paper.The writing instrument is listed as “felt tip marker”, when the more accurate term would be “laser
printer”.JSA even went so far to say that, among other
factors, the pen pressure was consistent with known samples in their database. Pen pressure?
On a laser print? How is that possible? Does that mean that they compared it
to other laser prints and it was consistent with them?This
situation made us wonder how JSA and PSA/DNA could have missed the fact that the photo was a laser copy. The JSA certificate was signed “Autographically Yours,” and the PSA/DNA
certificate was signed “Yours in Signatures”. Something like “Yours in Toner” would
have been a better ending. Unfortunately, it’s not the only time JSA and PSA/DNA have made this mistake. Meet
President Harry S. Truman.
   This Harry Truman 8x10 photo was also auctioned off at
R&R Auctions. It was auctioned off with both a PSA/DNA certificate and an R&R certificate.Unfortunately, it is also a laser print.
The inscription and signature are, once again, printed
onto the paper. They were part of the photo, as it was printed onto the photo paper. What did the PSA/DNA and R&R Auction certificates mean when they both reported that the photo
was “signed and inscribed in black ink”? Were they referring to the original, which they did
not examine, or the laser print that they did “examine”? We
decided to take our test one step further. Since PSA/DNA had certified the Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle
laser print after JSA certified it, we wondered if the opposite would occur. Would JSA certify a laser
print after PSA/DNA had certified it, or would they notice that it was a laser print when they “thoroughly examined”
the photo?
Your Certificate Is Valid
The item is confirmable at www.SpenceLOA.com.Once again, JSA even went so far to say
that, among other factors, the pen pressure was consistent with known samples in their database. Pen pressure?
Once again, on a laser print? How is that possible? Does that mean that they
compared it to other laser prints and it was consistent with them? What
did the JSA certificate mean when it stated that “The inscription and date has been penned in the hand of Harry Truman”?
Were they referring to the original, which they did not examine, or the laser print that they did “examine”? We wondered if this was an isolated situation, and then we found the answer. Unfortunately,
it does not seem to be an isolated situation. Meet Allie Reynolds.
Your Certificate Is Valid
Unfortunately,
when the piece is taken out of the frame, like the Joe DiMaggio/Mickey Mantle photo and the Harry Truman photo, it is also
a laser copy. It’s printed on double-sided matte paper. The backing paper had
a JSA sticker on it, sticker E12889. Yet again, we wondered how JSA had missed this when the Basic Cert was issued.
Could it happen again? The piece was brought back to JSA. What did they do?
They upgraded the piece to a full Letter of Authenticity,
with JSA sticker B99057. That’s right, the laser print was upgraded from a Basic Cert to a Full Letter
of Authenticity. They replaced the basic cert sticker with the new sticker. Once again,
they felt the laser print had a pen pressure that was consistent to other items in their database. They
also declared the laser print signature the product of a ballpoint pen.
Your Certificate Is
Valid
The
item is confirmable at www.SpenceLOA.com.We asked an unsuspecting dealer to drop
the piece off at PSA/DNA when he brought some of his items in for review. We did not tell him that it was
a laser print, for fear that he would not be able to act casual when he met with them. Would they notice
the nagging little fact that the piece is a laser copy?
That’s right. It passed.
The folks at PSA/DNA must have read JSA’s advertising. They did “follow the leader”.
They followed JSA’s example and certified a laser copy as an original signature. The certificate
can be verified at www.psadna.com Unfortunately, there’s
more.
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