Our Purpose
Services Provided by Scientific Authentication Company is a measured deliberate examination to determine the authenticity of the signature submitted. Our authentication services are an opinion-based service that systematically investigates all signed items by comparing the items to known authentic exemplars of the signers.
Our Philosphy on Authentication
Scientific Authentication Company was started as an alternative to the way autographs were examined for authentication. In the past the sports memorabilia authentication companies have used collectors and dealers as their authenticators. These authenticators highly respected in the industry have for their collecting and selling expertise have had little or no formal training in forensics and document examination. Our background in forensics along with our commitment to measured scientific principles and working with well-trained forensic and document examiners, combined with today’s latest technology can produce consistent scientific proof that signatures are authentic or counterfeit.
What is a Forensic Document Examination?
Forensic document examination is a scientific analysis on questioned handwriting and hand printing, to determine whether or not a particular individual is the author of a questioned piece of writing. The identification of handwriting is a scientific process that includes the analysis of various aspects of natural writing, including the writer’s slant, size relationships between letters, angles, connecting and ending strokes of letters, speed and flow of the writing, and formation of letters. Initially, when children learn to write, they are taught a set copybook pattern, the precise shapes of letters and relationships between letters. These traits are referred to as class characteristics, those features in handwriting that all individuals who learned that particular copybook style utilize.
Over time, as writing becomes more of a natural process, and the writer no longer thinks about it, but does it automatically, he or she inserts individualized traits into the writing, much as one asserts his or her own personality. These traits a referred to as individual characteristics. An examination of handwriting includes the analysis of an individual’s class and individual characteristics. As a person writes over time, this combination of traits repeats itself, so one sample of an individual’s writing can be compared to another. Consistent similarities can lead to an identification of common authorship, just as unexplainable differences can lead to an exclusion. Upon receipt of a questioned signature or writing, the forensic scientist conducts various scientific tests, including examining the writing under magnification, to determine the individual and class characteristics of the writing.
Consistent Similarities
This same method is also used to study the known exemplars of the individual, to determine what the characteristics are, as well as the individual variation that all writers have. People do not always write exactly the same, but they do have consistent patterns that make it possible to determine the range of their variations in handwriting. Questioned writings are then compared to the known standards for the individual(s), to determine if they have the same patterns of individual and class characteristics, without unexplainable differences. If the same patterns exist in both the questioned and the known exemplars, without significant differences, common authorship can be determined when using scientific principles during the examination process.
Standards & Patterns
It is important for forensic scientists to consult and collaborate with other professionals when analyzing signatures. For example, consulting with other professionals can help the forensic scientist to methodically examine restoration, inks, alterations and analysis of the handwriting to determine authenticity