How to check an autograph card before you buy

Check an autograph card in two stages. First confirm the card itself: that the maker issued that exact card signed, with the run and signature type it should have, and that any hologram matches its certificate. Then decide whether the signature needs a third-party opinion. A signature the maker packed is certified by the maker, while one added later needs an authenticator.

Where did the signature come from?

This decides every check that follows. Signed cards reach the market in four ways:

• Issued signed by the maker. Certified autographs are cards signed under the maker’s certification rules and packed into its products. CGC calls them manufacturer-certified autographs.
• Signed later. A card signed at a show, by mail or in person carries no maker certification. Upper Deck’s buyback autographs are the exception: the athlete signs an older card for the maker, and the maker certifies it.
• Cut. A signature cut from a larger document and mounted in or on a card.
• Printed. A facsimile is a replica signature, stamped or printed during production, that the subject did not apply. An autograph card is one the athlete signed, so a facsimile is not an autograph.

Our guide to sticker and on-card autographs compares these types side by side.

Step 1: Does the checklist list this card as signed?

A maker-issued autograph has to exist on the maker’s checklist. Find the set, the card number and the autograph flag, and match any serial stamp to the run in that card’s row.

Upper Deck’s 2025-26 Extended Series shows why the row matters. Its new debut jersey card has three versions on the checklist. The unsigned jersey card carries no number and is listed at 1:1296 in hobby. The hard-signed version is numbered to each rookie’s jersey number, with runs from 6 to 76, and a hard-signed Black version is numbered 1 of 1. So a signed debut jersey card with no stamp does not match either signed card Upper Deck issued. Our guide to serial-numbered cards explains how to read the run.

Step 2: Does the signature match how the set was signed?

Read the product page. The Extended Series jersey autograph is hard-signed, so a sticker on that card would be a mismatch. Then look at the card under a light for the edges of a clear label around the signature. A printed facsimile on an unsigned card is not an autograph, whatever the listing says.

Step 3: Do the holograms and certificates match?

Upper Deck has built security holograms into its trading cards since its early years, and the hobby’s first anti-counterfeiting hologram was Upper Deck’s, in 1989. For signed items, the certificate matters as much as the card.

• Buyback autographs. For the hard-signed buybacks in 2011-12 Series Two, each card has a hologram on the back and comes with a certificate card with a matching hologram. Keep that certificate with the card. CGC requires JSA authentication for Upper Deck buyback autographs without the original certificate.
• Upper Deck Authenticated items. Since 1992 its five-step process has had a company representative witness each signing by its high-profile athletes, kept a signed record of the session, and paired a serial-numbered hologram on the item with a matching one on the certificate. A photo and description for certain items appear in Upper Deck’s Hologram Database, along with whether the number matches the piece it was first applied to.
• Patch autographs. Some newer Upper Deck rookie patch autographs can be checked against the maker’s own images. Our guide to autographs, patches and short prints covers that check.

Step 4: Why is a seller’s certificate not enough?

Because anyone can print one. In a 2016 post, Upper Deck warned about autopens, machines that copy a signature with a real pen, sometimes exactly. It said people using them often attach certificates of their own that carry no weight, and that even third-party authenticators have trouble telling the difference. Autopen concerns can reach maker-issued cards too: CGC’s list of sports cards it will not grade includes one 2016 Panini Prizm rookie autograph, in every variation, with an autopen note.

Treat a certificate as evidence only when it comes from the maker or an authenticator, carries a hologram that matches the item, and can be looked up with its issuer.

Step 5: Does the card need JSA authentication?

CGC routes signed cards by where the signature came from, along four paths:

Some cards, mostly older ones, must carry JSA authentication, such as Upper Deck buybacks without the original certificate, Topps Rookie Premiere autographs from 2000 to 2015 unless serial-numbered, and 1991 to 1997 Pro Line autographs. The requirement can change at any time.

JSA’s fees through CGC in the US are per card and include autograph grading for up to two signatures:

CGC’s grading fee is charged on top, and turnaround is the grading tier’s time plus 10 working days. The grading cost calculator lists grading service levels, prices and estimated waits, with the day each price was read.

What happens if the signature fails?

CGC sets out two outcomes:

• If the autograph is not genuine or has been altered, the card is not encapsulated, the full JSA fee applies, and CGC refunds its grading fee.
• If the autograph cannot be verified, JSA refunds its fee except for $9, and CGC refunds its grading fee.

When you submit, you also choose how the autograph is graded. “Any grade” gives a number at 5 or above and authentic only below that. You can instead ask for authentic only, or name a minimum grade. On a maker-certified pack autograph, you can name a minimum autograph grade only if you add JSA authentication.

Step 6: How do you check a graded autograph?

Look up the cert number on the grader’s site and check that the card, the signer and the grade match the label. Cards with the CGC x JSA or Signature Series labels receive grader notes describing the signer.

Red flags before you pay

• A signature on a version of the card that was never issued signed.
• A serial stamp that does not match the run in that card’s row.
• A sticker on a set the maker calls hard-signed.
• A buyback autograph sold without its certificate.
• A hologram number that does not match its certificate.
• Only a seller-made certificate behind a signature added after release.

A card that arrives through a maker’s redemption program is checked the same way as one from a pack. Our guide to whether rip site cards are real covers graded cards from rip sites, and how to buy graded cards online covers the purchase itself.

Frequently asked questions

I watched the card being signed. Does that count for CGC Signature Series?

No. Only a signing watched by a CGC or JSA representative qualifies for Signature Series. An autograph you saw signed yourself can still go to CGC x JSA Authentic Autograph certification instead.

How does CGC grade a card signed by 2 people?

With one autograph grade that combines both signatures. A card with 3 or more autographs gets no autograph grade at all, because CGC says blending that many could make the grade ambiguous.

Do CGC members pay less for JSA authentication?

Yes. Associate and Premium members get 10% off CGC x JSA and Signature Series services, and Elite members 20%. The $150 credit that comes with a Premium or Elite membership can be spent on those services too.

Can a card that is already signed get a second signature through Signature Series?

Yes. JSA authenticates the earlier autograph, a CGC representative witnesses the second one, and the card comes back with the CGC x JSA Authentic Autograph label carrying both signers' names.