Why authenticate your J. K. Rowling signature with The Harry Potter Specialist?

J. K. ROWLING’S SIGNATURE IS ALMOST CERTAINLY one of the most—if not the most—forged signatures in the collectable and rare book market today. This has become a real problem for genuine fans and honest Harry Potter collectors.

I didn’t set out to start a third-party authentication company, however, because of the degree that counterfeit signatures are literally decimating the Harry Potter signed book market (on eBay, AbeBooks, etc.), causing an incredible amount of damage to our hobby, I have felt compelled to provide this service so that you can buy and enjoy your signed Harry Potter books with confidence you have an authentic piece.

The goal of The Harry Potter Specialist authentication service is to provide collectors—and also booksellers, auction houses, etc.—with the highest level of confidence possible that they have an authentic J. K. Rowling signature.

So, why choose us to authenticate your J. K. Rowling signature? Over the years we have helped collectors, booksellers, and auction houses avoid buying and selling counterfeit J. K. Rowling signatures. We have also helped many people obtain refunds for their counterfeit items. If this has happened to you we may, if possible, be able to advise on how you can go about claiming your refund.

There is no other third-party authentication company in the world that exclusively specialises in authenticating J. K. Rowling’s signature. We have an exhaustive database of authentic examples of her signature dating back to 1997 when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published. In many instances, not only can we identify the period the book was signed (to the year, month, and sometimes to the specific day and signing event), but in many instances we know the pen type which was used at particular signing events (ballpoint, gel, sharpie, etc.), what book and page was typically signed at the event, and if there are any particular traits to her signature which are particular to a precise signing event.

We also make it as convenient as possible for you to use our service. For instance, unlike other third-party authenticators, you don’t have to (although in some instances we may require it) mail in your item for authentication. Some authenticators feel it foolish to authenticate a signature without seeing it in person. To the limited extent of it relating to Jo’s signature, we don’t agree that this is necessary. It is completely possible for us to authenticate Jo’s signature as long as high resolution images are provided. And on top of that, some of Jo’s signed books can easily be worth five or even six figures, we don’t want you to have to feel like you need to take the risk of mailing this to us.

Also, if we do require you to mail in the book, we will not mark it in any way—other third-party authenticators can put stickers in your books, mark it with invisible ink, put a small pin hole in one of the pages of the book, all to confirm that it is the actual book they authenticated—we don’t feel this practice is necessary and can only devalue and damage your book.

Another important reason to use us is that, unfortunately, many other third-party authentication companies have seemingly lost the ability to determine the difference between an authentic J. K. Rowling signature and a sophisticated counterfeit. Recently there have been many examples where some of the worlds biggest third-party authentication companies have frequently authenticated counterfeit examples of Jo’s signature. This is simply a consequence of the fact that they are not specialists in her signature and not keeping up to date on new forgeries which are entering the market, which we are at the forefront of.

A letter of authenticity, when provided by a recognised specialist, can—due to the increased confidence it gives the potential buyer—increase the value of your item. For the casual collector or seller, it can also give enough added confidence for a buyer to decide to purchase a book instead of going to a more high profile source in order to achieve that added confidence.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we are also the only J. K. Rowling signature authentication service in the world approved by Peter Kenneth: The Potter Collector. If you have found your way here it is likely you will already know who Peter is. Peter also specialises in Jo’s signature and has an incredible collection of signed items that you can see on YouTube and Instagram.

— Adam Houston