Touchstone Authentication was founded in 1997 to provide written, signed opinions on signed books, photographs, manuscripts, and letters. Three senior examiners. One specialty.
We do not run an auction house. We do not buy, sell, or appraise the items we examine. We render an opinion on whether an item is what it is represented to be — and we put that opinion in writing, sign it, and stand behind it.
Touchstone works exclusively with the trade. Auction houses, established booksellers, manuscript and autograph dealers, gallery owners, and institutional clients submit items on a volume basis.
No opinion is ever issued from photographs alone.
The examiner's name appears on the certificate.
When the evidence is short of certainty, we say so.
We do not buy or sell the items we examine.
Every certificate is signed by the examiner who held the piece.
Joined Touchstone in 1999. Specialises in 20th-century literary signatures, presidential correspondence, and inscribed photographs.
Twenty years authenticating holograph manuscripts, working drafts, and historical correspondence.
Modern first editions, signed limited editions, association & presentation copies.
Touchstone has occupied the same fourth-floor office in West Chelsea since 1997.
Volume terms by quote.