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  Authenticity of Challenger crew autographs

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Author Topic:   Authenticity of Challenger crew autographs
Hart Sastrowardoyo
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Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 07-05-2013 12:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Edit: I've since deleted these scans.

Had these for a while, was wondering if anyone could give their opinions on them. They're album pages from five of the Challenger 51L crew (less Smith and Resnick), plus Dick Covey (fittingly enough, CAPCOM that day.)

Here's a scan of Jarvis, Onizuka, and Scobee.

Here's the scans of Covey and McAuliffe on what must have been a fading marker, and below that of McNair.

Just some thoughts: If they're not real, it's interesting that whoever did so used three different pens, with the McAuliffe, perhaps the most valuable of them all, done in a faded marker. It's also interesting that if they are fakes, that added verbage was added (the titles of four of the astronauts.) And lastly, that if they are fakes, that Smith and Resnick were not included (but Covey was), unless Smith and Resnick were somehow separated from this lot.

Anyway, opinions freely sought.

garyd2831
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Posts: 640
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: Oct 2009

posted 07-05-2013 02:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for garyd2831   Click Here to Email garyd2831     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As a collector of STS-51L material, to my eyes, the signatures look good. I would say that the Jarvis signature is a little more rarer and possibly more valuable than the McAuliffe signature. Of course the medium in which they are signed on is all that great so the value would be just in a plain signature that could be cut and mounted.

garyd2831
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Posts: 640
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: Oct 2009

posted 07-05-2013 02:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for garyd2831   Click Here to Email garyd2831     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I meant to say in my previous post: "Of course the medium in which they are signed on isn't all that great and plain so the value would be just in a plain signature that could be cut and mounted.

Bob M
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Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 07-05-2013 04:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sorry, but you need to return these and get your money back.

Greggy_D
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Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 07-05-2013 04:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Greggy_D   Click Here to Email Greggy_D     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Agreed. The Covey and McNair are really bad. The last two e's in Scobee are shaped wrong. The z in Onizuka usually ends and does not continue into the u (like in your example).

garyd2831
Member

Posts: 640
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: Oct 2009

posted 07-05-2013 09:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for garyd2831   Click Here to Email garyd2831     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
After reviewing in greater detail and comparing the signatures to the ones I have, I would have to agree that the signatures don't look right. I make a quick observation earlier without doing a comparison analysis and jumped to an opinion quickly, my apologizes.

Steve Zarelli
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Posts: 731
From: Upstate New York, USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 07-06-2013 10:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Steve Zarelli   Click Here to Email Steve Zarelli     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not sure I can add much that hasn't already been said other than to note the forger here (in my opinion, of course) was ambitious and did a relatively decent job at capturing the "essence" of these signatures. The whispy light touch of McNair and Onizuka, the elegant flow of McAuliffe, the sturdy Scobee, etc.

But, yes, on closer examine they fall apart for a number of reasons. Note the similarity of "shuttle" in the Onizuka and Scobee inscriptions.

This is the danger of the obvious, crude fakes we often see... it makes it easier to fall prey to more skilled fakes.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member

Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 07-06-2013 02:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks all! It's been a while since I've had these, and I don't remember where I got them. I'll file them in the recycling bin... at least there it'll get some good use.

All times are CT (US)

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