The fact that it is signed in pencil should not by itself put it into the fake category. There are more than one photo of Hitler signing a postcard with a pencil...and I believe that there is one photo showing him with a whole stack of such postcards, again with a pencil in hand.
I believe that Hoffmann printed versions of some postcards with a wider border, specifically to give room for autographs. (again, the fact that this postcard does *not* have such a wide border does not rule it out)
All of that said, Maxhistory said there is something suspicious about this particular pencil marking. Might it be in a color of lead or graphite which was not available until after the war? It looks like it might have a blue tint. Maybe Hitler didn't ordinarily use blue pencils?
I know there is reluctance to share the reasons for reservations like this.... because the forgers will latch on to it and make their forgeries even harder to detect in the future... better to leave them to trip unknowingly over the easy stuff, I guess the thinking goes.
Now that I go back and look at the photo as posted in this thread, I'm no expert at all, but looking at the signature, the 'Hitler' part of the signature looks like it has been traced. There is a tiny line down the middle of each stroke as if it has been drawn first, then the bold strokes put right over the tiny guide lines. Do you guys see that too? If these 'centering lines' were made by the tip of the sharp pencil, then each stroke would not be nearly so broad.
That said, I had a Hitler-autographed Hoffmann postcard (in pencil) myself back in the 80's, and sold it in the early 90's for $600 (I bought it in a stack of postcards real cheap where the autograph had gone completely unnoticed). I was honest in believing it was genuine, and so did the buyer I sold it too.... so two happy parties usually means all is well as far as the transaction goes. The buyer didn't ask for a lifetime guarantee, but I'd have had no problem giving him his money back if he was unhappy with it for any reason.
I believe that Hoffmann printed versions of some postcards with a wider border, specifically to give room for autographs. (again, the fact that this postcard does *not* have such a wide border does not rule it out)
All of that said, Maxhistory said there is something suspicious about this particular pencil marking. Might it be in a color of lead or graphite which was not available until after the war? It looks like it might have a blue tint. Maybe Hitler didn't ordinarily use blue pencils?
I know there is reluctance to share the reasons for reservations like this.... because the forgers will latch on to it and make their forgeries even harder to detect in the future... better to leave them to trip unknowingly over the easy stuff, I guess the thinking goes.
Now that I go back and look at the photo as posted in this thread, I'm no expert at all, but looking at the signature, the 'Hitler' part of the signature looks like it has been traced. There is a tiny line down the middle of each stroke as if it has been drawn first, then the bold strokes put right over the tiny guide lines. Do you guys see that too? If these 'centering lines' were made by the tip of the sharp pencil, then each stroke would not be nearly so broad.
That said, I had a Hitler-autographed Hoffmann postcard (in pencil) myself back in the 80's, and sold it in the early 90's for $600 (I bought it in a stack of postcards real cheap where the autograph had gone completely unnoticed). I was honest in believing it was genuine, and so did the buyer I sold it too.... so two happy parties usually means all is well as far as the transaction goes. The buyer didn't ask for a lifetime guarantee, but I'd have had no problem giving him his money back if he was unhappy with it for any reason.
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