Autopen

An autopen (or signing machine) is a device used for the automatic signing of a signature. Prominent individuals may be asked to provide their signatures many times a day, such as celebrities receiving requests for <a href="/facts/Autograph/xjoyGFBD">autographs</a>, 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. 
21st-century autopens are machines programmed with a signature subsequently reproduced by a motorized mechanical arm.
Given the similarity to the real hand signature, a use of an autopen allows for <a href="/facts/Plausible_deniability/KfCcDNLT">plausible deniability</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Philography/KYVNIArp">philographic</a> collectibles; legitimate hand-signed documents from individuals known to also use an autopen usually require verification and <a href="/facts/Provenance/sxcgEXTH">provenance</a> to be considered valid.
Early autopens used a <a href="/facts/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)/CnCRBo5F">plastic</a> <a href="/facts/Matrix_(printing)/0cHP3V2C">matrix</a> of the original signature which is a channel cut into an engraved plate in the shape of a wheel. A stylus driven by an electric motor followed the <a href="/facts/Cartesian_coordinate_system/lkTqvMmB">x- and y-axis</a> of a <a href="/facts/Profile_(engineering)/WAR7RfKW">profile</a> or shape engraved in the plate (which is why it is called a matrix). The stylus is <a href="/facts/Pantograph/5m9oDekm">mechanically connected</a> to an arm which can hold almost any common writing instrument, so that one's pen and ink can be used to suggest authenticity. The autopen signature is made with even pressure (and indentation in the paper), which is how these machines are distinguishable from original handwriting where the pressure varies.

Autopen open-in-new

Autopen