Posts: 186
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 07-30-2009 12:45 PM               

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I received today from a UK autograph dealer that they have 16 separate signed Gagarin items in their current advert.

I'm not getting at this particular dealer - I have no reason to question their items - but it does prompt me to wonder how easy it is to authenticate Gagarin autographs. I accept it must be easier if there is also a written inscription, but his signature itself is fairly simple.

I've stuck to the view that a Kniga cover is the only way to be sure, or perhaps an item with a really cast iron provenance (although that's relatively uncommon, I feel).

Am I being too cautious? Would others be confident in buying a signed Gagarin item based on the signature appearance alone?

Posts: 440
From: San Antonio TX, USA
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 07-30-2009 02:18 PM               

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I agree with you that the Kniga cover is the only way to really be confident in the legitimacy of a Gagarin signature. I've read enough for me to feel that many of the other items in the market are at least "questionable", especially given the simplicity of Gagarin's signature.

As much as I would love to have a signed cover postmarked on the launch date of Vostok 1, I have chosen to limit myself to the Kniga cover. I am in fact, waiting for one I just purchased, to arrive in the mail next week.

Posts: 1803
From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Registered: May 2004

posted 07-30-2009 03:38 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by medaris:
I received today from a UK autograph dealer that they have 16 separate signed Gagarin items in their current advert.

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Personally, I'd only purchase a Gagarin with cast iron provenance. If I knew the seller personally and trusted them that would help also. I think I know the dealer you are talking about... they send out catalogs every once in a while. I think they had a Korolev signed/noted piece recently which was interesting.

Posts: 3415
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 07-31-2009 07:10 AM               

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I think I saw the same offering and thought that one or two were printed.

There are probably as many Gagarin forgeries out there as there are Armstrong forgeries, but the cyrillic makes "cast-iron" authentication tough - unless you're prepared to put some work into studying the detail of his signature and handwriting. Provenance is important - if you can get it. One of my favourite pieces is a rare 10x8 of Gagarin signed front and back in Cuba that can be traced to his trip there.

Aside from Knigas, he signed many copies of his book "Road to the Stars" and the small postcards of him in his spacesuit. There's no doubt he was a prolific signer, but you have to build up your own knowledge base of signature/handwriting "tells".

Posts: 2239
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 07-02-2010 08:31 AM               

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We read and post numerous threads and comments with regard to the validity of Neil Armstong's signature. How about Yuri Gagarin too though? Are there many forgeries of his autograph around? If so, what should we look out for and be aware of?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Posts: 802
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003

Posts: 2239
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008

Posts: 440
From: San Antonio TX, USA
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 07-13-2010 02:01 PM               

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One of our European-based participants can probably provide more information, but here's my understanding of the Kniga covers:

Eight covers were officially issued by the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Trade; one for each of the six Vostok missions and two more for the two Voskhod missions. Each cover was signed by the respective mission's cosmonaut crew.

Each of the six Vostok covers was postmarked in Moskow ("Mockba") on "10 1 64", or 10 Jan 64. The Voskhod 1 cover was postmarked in Moskow ("Mockba") on "191064", or 19 Oct 64, and the Voskhod 2 cover was postmarked in Moscow ("Mockba") on "23 565",or 23 May 65. All the stamps used on the covers were commemorative stamps picturing each cosmonaut

As long as you get covers with the above postmarks, you are guaranteed of having authentic signatures of the 11 cosmonauts, since all the covers were issued already signed by the cosmonauts. I have seen covers identical to the signed covers, with differently dated postmarks, that were not signed. Theoretically, one could take one of the unsigned covers, and forge the signatures. Not so with the covers with the proper postmarks, as again, they were only issued having already been signed by the crews.

Posts: 91
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 07-01-2023 01:03 PM            

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When I finally update my even more antiquated and outdated technology some time in the next year (or so) and manage to post an image, I will look forward to getting observations about my Gagarin signed cover.

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Posts: 802
From: Salzburg, Austria
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Posts: 91
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

Posts: 745
From: Upstate New York, USA
Registered: Mar 2001

Posts: 91
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

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From:
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Posts: 91
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 07-04-2023 12:06 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by Steve Zarelli:
All of the circumstantial stuff means nothing.

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You see, I respectfully disagree. I think all the circumstantial stuff can lend credence to its authenticity.

And for an amateur like myself, who unashamedly admits he finds it hard, if not virtually impossible, to tell the real signatures from the sublime fakes, when faced with the possibility of buying such a rare item, especially from out of the blue, the circumstantial stuff is just about the only thing that helps make the decision not just a random toss of a coin.

Posts: 40
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Feb 2005