As a starting point, being an autograph collector for over four decades, I have become jaded and typically question the authenticity of every autograph on eBay, as forgery is epidemic these days. I honestly don’t even waste my time buying them anymore unless I can trace the lineage beyond a reasonable doubt. At first glance, this example has red flags all over it. For instance, did you know Charlie was left-handed? (I suspect most of you probably did.) He certainly didn’t write cursive script that often, and typically any printed examples would have a slightly vertical bias. Both forgeries, I mean “autographs,” were clearly signed with the same writing instrument, and the bleedout seen on the cardboard record sleeve is not uncommon; however, there is a significant overprinted channel to them in this photo. It appears to be very smooth and consistent, which makes me question if someone had poorly traced it with a ballpoint pen at some point. It is important to note that the ballpoint pen didn’t make its mark on the United States until Oct. 29, 1945, when Gim­bels sold them for $12.50 each. An astronomical sum at the time, and far out of reach for the average consumer. Widespread adoption of an affordable variant would not be on the market until well after Charlie’s passing, but I digress. There are a few other eccentricities to this one that I won’t get into, but in my humble opinion, this one is a hard PASS, unfortunately.