The only sure way to know if an autograph is authentic is to see a celebrity sign in front of you. Otherwise you must sort out the many fakes that will certainly be mailed to you or, worse, offered to you for sale. If you are just beginning to collect autographs you probably cannot tell if an autograph is authentic.
There are several ways that fakes are commonly produced. Autopen is a machine that can sign a name for a celebrity. Another way is for a secretary to sign for a celebrity. Also, the celebrity may use a rubber stamp or may send printed signatures that look real. The "autopen" relied on a pattern, referred to as a matrix, that the machine would trace. Still, to the untrained eye, autopen autographs appear to be real.
![Space collectibles autopen machine Space collectibles autopen machine](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/m80_dix1hj.jpg)
- shaky signatures: the result of the machine being accidentally moved while in operation;
![Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 autopen autograph Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 autopen autograph](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/ap_armstrong1_gojq0g.jpg)
![broken image](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/ap_armstrong2_ui7viz.jpg)
![Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Apollo 11 autograph Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Apollo 11 autograph](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/ap_aldrin_v2qomj.jpg)
![Michael Collins Apollo 11 autopen signature Michael Collins Apollo 11 autopen signature](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/ap_collins_e80oi5.jpg)
![broken image](http://user-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_90,w_1200/184239/2015-10-28_002523_pvytp2.png)