T O P I C R E V I E W |
garyd2831 | Here is an eBay listing of what appears to be a sketchy looking Armstrong. |
fredtrav | At least they could have spelled his name right. Is his first name Niel or is it Neel on the cover? |
garyd2831 | Oh, come on...there is a tiny dot above the 2nd "e"... |
capoetc | Hmmm ... I'm no expert, but I've seen quite a few Armstrongs. Seller says it was obtained over 30 years ago, so around 1980-81 or so. If authentic, then the style is pretty consistent with how he was signing around then. I wouldn't bet a month's pay on it, but if I had to make the call I'd say "likely authentic". |
Greggy_D | Some of the strokes look pretty shaky to me. |
liftoff1 | It looks like it may have been signed upon an irregular and bumpy surface. Otherwise it looks more good than bad. |
Michael1976 | It looks very authentic. And I completely agree with the post that it looks like it was signed on a bumpy surface, and if you look at the cover it appears to be quite bumpy. The Neil is spot on, with the common three pen strokes for the N and the Armstrong "tail" is consistent in pen stroke and flow. |
chet | I'd have grave concerns bidding on this cover. |
Mark B | I don't have any problem with this signature. It's not a perfect looking free flowing Armstrong signature but for me it looks legit. I do agree the surface it was signed on may have been rough. Instead of people being so negative about almost anything posted that is not a "perfect looking Armstrong" should we not be discussing the positive traits of this signature? More Pos than Negs for me this one... Best of luck. |
gliderpilotuk | quote: Originally posted by liftoff1: It looks like it may have been signed upon an irregular and bumpy surface. Otherwise it looks more good than bad.
Agree 100%. - the Neil often looks like "Niil"
- the slips are typical of an item being hand-supported.
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Steve Zarelli | I was waiting for it to end before commenting. In my opinion, it is authentic. It has all the small positive indicators and good general formation. The "hiccups" were almost certainly a result of being signed in his hand while standing. I have many in-person exemplars which have the same slurred "ei" formation. One thing to bear in mind is that most forgeries try to look too perfect and thus are slowly signed with no conviction. This example was signed quickly and shows good interaction between the various components of the signature. He went from one part to the next quickly. This is VERY difficult for as forger to do and still maintain good general formation. Additionally, the signature style was dead on for the period in which Armstrong signed postal covers. |
DSeuss5490 | I own dozens of Armstrongs and I would never buy this one. Whether its deemed authentic or not by the experts it will always have the stigma of being very, very atypical. There are better examples to choose from. Personally, I dont think it is authentic at all, but that's just my opinion. |
albatron | Well, I thought it was good enough to have bid on, although I didn't win it. I think Steve is dead on. |
Bob M | I don't own dozens of Armstrongs like Mr. DSeuss does, but like him, I wouldn't especially want this example, although I believe it authentic. It's not the best example but I believe that Steve's analysis of it is accurate. Many collectors have acquired dozens of Armstrongs from various sources and it would be interesting to let someone competent like Steve to check them out. I'd be glad to have him check mine out. |