Fakes and Secretarials

What´s following is an overview of faked signatures and items that can appear at auctions and in dealer´s catalogues. I have collected scans using illustrations in reference books and from my own collection.

Follow the link (but please return!) to see a more detailed list of "fakes and secretarials" (and forgeries), offered by the very reputable British dealer John Wilson. It shows scans, among others, of the notorious messages sent out by Winston Churchill´s office while he was PM (with kind permission of Mr. Wilson). While you are there, I´m sure Mr. Wilson would welcome you to browse his stock.

Royals

This section is very small, fortunately. Unlike the French Kings since Louis XIII (1601-43; even occasionally some of the earlier ones) until the Napoleonic Era, who appointed "secrétaires de la main" to sign documents for them, no British King or Queen, and no Prime Minister is known to have used secretaries to sign for them, even though the more recent ones tend to use autopens, a mechanical device able to reproduce signatures (a.o.).

King Henry VIII (1491-1547), however, has used a wooden stamp for his documents sometimes. He was very fond of this "toy", so that he let no one use it until a few years before he died, when he appointed three men of his Council who were allowed to "stamp for the King". So, in a way, even the earlier documents which bear a stamped signature, are almost "real". His stamped signature is even less common as his real one, as he was obliged by the rules to sign most in the original. On the right, his signature on a document, stamped by the King himself in 1517. By the way, even and especially his more common original signature is worth a fortune, in July 2000 a signed document brought £ 19.950,00 in an auction at "Christie´s" in London.

King Edward VII (1841-1910) used an iron-stamp for his signature sometimes, you can see an example of this stamped signature on the right.

Another item that appears in auctions fairly regular is a "hand-signed" facsimile letter by King George V. It´s written on "Windsor Castle"-stationary in April 1918 and reads: "Soldiers of the United States, the People of the British Isles welcome you on your way to take your stand beside the Armies of many Nations now fighting in the Old World the great battle for human freedom. The Allies will gain new heart & spirit in your company. I wish that I could shake the hand of each one of you & bid you God speed on your mission. (signed) George R.I.". This letter was handed out to the soldiers who came to Great Britain near the end of the first World War. It looks very real, but, as you can imagine, it was preprinted, a moral boost to the troops.   

A similar preprinted letter was also handed out to welcome back returning British prisoners-of-war. It goes "The Queen and I wish you Godspeed, and a safe return to your homes and dear ones. A grateful Mother Country is proud of your splendid services characterized by unsurpassed devotion and courage. (signed) George R.I.". 

It´s almost unbelievable that there are people who consider these genuine.

The signature of King George V was also stamped on the many commissions which were granted to His Majesty´s soldiers during the War.

From then on, it has not been unusual for less important Royal documents to bear the stamped signature. An example of the rubber-stamped signature of King George VI is on the right.

The commissions granted by Queen Elizabeth II are usually stamped, while senior diplomatic appointments to the Order of Chivalry are personally signed and always have been.

There are Christmas-cards signed by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip offered fairly regular, but be very careful when you consider buying one of these: Many (most?) are signed (and dated) by an autopen. They look incredible real even to an educated eye and are offered in good Faith by very reputable dealers (please click here for examples of their autopen). Christmas-cards by Prince Charles (together or without Princess Diana) are also often signed by an autopen; a rule may be that a personal inscription to someone is most likely followed by a handwritten signature.

Prime Ministers

At first a word regarding so-called "third-person"-letters: These were very common in the late 18th and 19th century, so you shouldn´t hesitate to consider buying a hand-written letter that begins "The Lord Wellington thanks...", or similar. These weren´t written by secretaries, despite the unpersonal touch. If the signature matches the examples shown here, just go on.  

The first example may be called a "secretarial", even though this would do wrong to the secretary. It´s Horatio Walpole (1678-1757), the younger brother of the first British Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Horatio was a diplomat and politician himself and signed many official documents. Even though their signatures don´t even look alike, some very good dealers are still fooled and offer Horatio´s signature as the one from the Prime Minister. It´s still interesting to have, being from the first half of the 18th century, but it´s not what it´s supposed to be, of course. On the left, you can see Horatio´s signature on a document from 1740 (top, in my possession), compared to Robert´s signature from a reference book (bottom), which you can also find in other sections on my website). 

The signature on the right is offered sometimes in auctions as an example of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister in the 1750s and 1760s. This one, however, is from the 2nd Duke of Newcastle (1720-94), the legendary Prime Minister´s nephew and much less important than the First Duke (1693-1763).

PM Robert Peel´s son Robert´s signature is also offered sometimes as that of the famous politician, and it looks very similar indeed. However, if a date on the item in question is present, it should clear all doubts. PM Peel died in 1850, when his son was 28. Peel jr. left Cambridge university in 1844 to make his way in diplomatics, so there´s only a short span between these dates. If you find a "free-frank" offered by a "Robert Peel" signed before 1844, it´s very likely you have the PM (if it´s before 1830, however, it could also be yet another Robert Peel, father of the PM...). 

From the early 20th century on, it has become fairly common to send out either stamped signatures or facsimile letters to requests for autographs. The history is a long one, unfortunately, and many of these facsimile letters are offered by dealers as being genuine. What follows now are examples, which offer a tip of the iceberg. If you find more, don´t hesitate to contact me!

David Lloyd George´s office sent out a facsimile letter after the end of the first world war, a "thank you"-note to the many who worked in public services. The date is always "1st September, 1919", and it looks real - but it is not. On the left, you can see the facsimile signature of this legendary Prime Minister under these letters, click here to see the rest.

Another favourite opportunity to bring printed signatures to the collector are christmas cards, same as with the Royals (see above). On the right, you can see the signature and date of Stanley Baldwin on such a printed christmas card, click here to see the rest. Nice card, but printed.

I have heard that Neville Chamberlain sent out stamped signatures, but I can´t offer a scan, unfortunately. Chamberlain´s office also sent out preprinted photos and "thank you"-notes after his return from talks with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, 1938, when Chamberlain and Great Britain thought the danger of a war in Europe was over. Chamberlaine received that many kind notes of congratulation to his "success" in Munich that his office even sent out preprinted photos that show Chamberlain leaving the plane from Munich! 

The most popular fakes in auctions and dealer´s catalogue´s, however, are the printed messages sent out by the office of Winston Churchill. He is the most sought-after (end expensive) PM, so the willingness to accept these facsimiles as genuine seems to blank out the mind of the interested person. Many thousand of preprinted messages were sent out after the Prime Minister´s birthday, or after the second world war. Beware if a letter is offered that has no personal prefix such as "Dear Mrs/Mr" or "Dear Sir", and no sentiment at the end, such as "sincerely yours". Typical letters are "I am so much obliged to you for your very kind token of good wish on my birthday. Winston S. Churchill", or "It was a pleasure to receive your kind message on my birthday - Winston S. Churchill".

The next example of a printed message was sent out by Harold Macmillan´s office. On the left, you can see the signature under one of these notes, click here to see the rest.

On the right is a card with a facsimile signature of the Prime Minister. In this case Edward Heath, similar cards were sent out by the offices of most more recent PMs.

Margaret Thatcher´s office sent out preprinted/facsimile messages, like after electorial victories. One I have seen was on stationary of the "Conservative Party" and begins "Thank you very much for your kind message of support". Like the other facsimile letters, it bears no date, no personal prefix, no salutation (click here to see this example). Photos with preprinted signatures were also sent out while she was in office, but, unlike most of her predecessors or successors, preprinted signatures are still being sent out by her office today, on photos that show the "Baroness Thatcher" as she looks today. Click here and here to see the two most recent preprints. On the left, you can see the card with a facsimile signature that was sent out by her office.

Her successor John Major also sent out photos with an autopen- or preprinted signature while in office. See the photo here for an example of an autopen.

While Prime Minister, Tony Blair, entertained his admirers with a variety of fake signatures.

But again, these photos (or letters) at least show facsimiles of real signatures, no secretarial signatures were sent out.

Below, you can see examples of fake Tony Blair signatures that were sent out between 1997 and 2007. They are (in order) detail-scans of his usual preprints (the photo on the right, and, the more recent one, on the left), a stamp, and what appears to be an inkjet-printout of a scanned signed photo. This is by far the best "reproduction", it looked absolutely convincing when I spotted (and won) it in an auction. All these fakes were sent out by Blair´s office (you can click on the images to see a larger scan). Please click here to see the most recent preprint that  was sent out.

Blair's successor Gordon Brown started sending out facsimile signatures early during his time in office as Chancellor of the Exchequer already, probably even before, when he started as MP. Below on the right, you can see an example of his fake signature on a "thanks for taking the time to write"-letter, 1998.