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Can you authenticate carbon copy
Portlandjoe
Posts: 36 ✭
I have a document that is a carbon copy but you can still see the pressure from the pen. Im wondering if the signature could be authenticated.
Thankyou
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Portlandjoe
Posts: 36 ✭
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Unfortunately a carbon copy is not considered an authentic autograph but a copy. It’s a little bit better than other types of copies in that it was likely touched and handled by the signer but it’s still not the original.
Do they have a designation for this kind of copy. The document I have is a court document from the 1970's , one of the traditional yellow ones.
Thankyou
I think they just call them carbon copy. It’s on carbon paper. The original is usually white and the carbon copy or copies (if there are two) are yellow and pink. Sometimes there are even more copies like 4 or 5 with some carbon paper sets and those are usually yellow and sometimes white. So it varies.
It could have some value as an historical artifact, but not as an autograph.
Are there companies that would be able to authentic document like this. Since it seems it can not be authentic through the signature.
Thanks
The carbon "signature" might help authenticate the document. I am not sure if the memorabilia/autograph/sports card authenticators would also do something like this - they might.
It would have to be pretty special or historic to justify the expense, though.
I should look into that. I always felt that since the carbon copy shows pen pressure and possibly flow it should be able to be authenticated.
But I really have limited knowledge on autographs. So I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Ha
why not share it with the board?
IMF
I read this on carbon copies from another post dealing with the same issue.
"In one way, an autograph is the manual transfer of ink (or another writing material) to a media, such as paper. So the transfer of carbon to a piece of paper through manual means of the signer should technically be an autograph.”
Does this hold any water ?
Not with me....
Whoever wrote that was just hypothesizing.
It is what it is. It's a carbon copy. I have never heard of a carbon copy being sold or accepted as an autograph. Historical document, maybe, but genuine autograph, no.
But I'm sensing that if you are told "no" by a hundred people and "yes" by one person, you're probably only going to listen to the "yes".
Why not post a photo? I'd love to see what all the fuss is about.
BTW, many if not most of the subtleties that help authenticate an autograph as hand-signed are lost with the carbon copy transfer.
I will get a photo in a few days. The value is in the document itself. The signature alone doesn't have much value maybe $100-200
Look forward to seeing it. If it has historical significance it can definitely be valuable as a document.
OK great, Thank you for your help