Editing Autograph collecting (section)

===Autopen autographing===
[[File:Portrait of President Nixon with autopen signature - NARA - 194771.tif|thumb|Portrait of U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] with [[autopen]] signature]]

Since the early 1950s almost all American presidents have had an [[autopen]] or robot machine for the automatic signing of a signature as an autograph machine for their letters, photographs, books, official documents, and even memorabilia items such as [[Baseball (ball)|baseballs]] and [[golf ball]]s. Some former presidents even have continued to utilize the autopen after they have left office. The Signa-Signer can even write out in ink an authentically looking handwritten message that has been typed into the machine. One book detailing the use of this machine by President [[John F. Kennedy]] (1961–1963) is ''The Robot That Helped to Make a President'' by Charles Hamilton.

Since the 1960s, the practice of using an autopen has spread to U.S. Cabinet members, U.S. Senators, some [[Governor (United States)|state governors]], and many other personalities who have a high volume of correspondence with the public.

Astronaut [[Alan Shepard]] acknowledged that [[NASA]] used the autopen machine to sign the astronauts' voluminous correspondence. Many large corporations also use these machines for signing business letters. Although autopen signatures should constantly match one another, they will eventually change as the signature drum becomes worn, and thereby alters the signature. Due to these professional imitations, buyers are often wary of buying presidential or astronaut signatures from unknown sellers.