Autopen

Uncommon card · No. 162426

An automatic pen, or autopen (informally known as a signing machine), is a mechanical device used for the replicated signing of a human signature. Prominent individuals may be asked to provide their signatures many times a day, such as celebrities receiving requests for autographs, or politicians signing documents and correspondence in their official capacities. Consequently, many public figures employ autopens to allow their signature to be printed on demand and without their direct involvement. Twenty-first-century autopens are machines programmed with a signature subsequently reproduced by a motorized mechanical arm. Given the similarity to the real hand signature, the use of an autopen allows for plausible deniability as to whether a famous autograph is real or reproduced, thus increasing the perception of the personal value of the signature by the recipient. However, known or suspected autopen signatures are also vastly less valuable as philographic collectibles; legitimate hand...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain