Do you know where authenticators get their credentials? college? no the streets? yes. They are generally just people who have collected autographs like you and me. They proclaim to know whether an autograph is real or not and they charge money to tell you! do you think they are accurate? I have heard lots of horror stories from collectors who were told their prized possesion if a fraud--even ones they got in-person. check out www.autographhell.com for the truth