What Is JSA Authentication?

JSA stands for James Spence Authentication, a third-party autograph authenticator founded in 2005 by James Spence Jr., who previously led authentication at PSA/DNA before starting his own company. JSA does not grade card condition — it opines on whether a signature is genuine, then issues a numbered sticker and/or letter of authenticity that a buyer can look up online. In March 2024, JSA was acquired by Certified Collectibles Group (CCG), the parent company behind CGC Cards, CGC Comics, and CGC's combined card-plus-signature submission tiers.

• Submission— by mail through JSA's standard channel, through CGC's combined card-grading submission tiers since the CCG acquisition, or in person at hobby shows for signatures obtained on-site.
• Output— a genuine signature gets a tamper-evident numbered JSA sticker for basic authentication, or a JSA Full Letter of Authenticity for higher-value items that documents the signer, item, and examination detail. Both are verifiable against JSA's online cert lookup.
• Exemplar database— JSA has built out close to a million reference signature images over two decades of submissions, which it uses alongside forensic examination of ink and writing characteristics to make the call.
• Cost/turnaround— roughly comparable to PSA/DNA at similar service tiers: a basic sticker runs cheaper than a Full Letter, encapsulation is an added fee, and standard processing typically runs a few weeks. Confirm current pricing directly with JSA or CGC before submitting, since fee schedules are revised periodically.

1. Vintage autographs and higher-end memorabilia — JSA's exemplar depth and Spence's background give it particular credibility on older signatures where fewer reference examples exist.
2. Alongside or instead of PSA/DNA— many serious collectors treat a JSA letter as carrying equal weight to PSA/DNA rather than a fallback; check sold comps for the specific player and era before assuming one authenticator commands a premium over the other.
3. Combined with CGC grading— since the CCG acquisition, a card sent to CGC for grading can pick up JSA authentication in the same submission instead of a separate round trip.
4. Always verify the cert before paying a premium — check the sticker or letter number against JSA's online lookup rather than taking a seller's word for it.

Confirm the exact card with Identify & Research — free-path first (on-device OCR, catalog match, and fingerprints). For how JSA compares against PSA/DNA and Beckett (BAS) side by side see PSA/DNA vs JSA vs Beckett (BAS): Which Autograph Authenticator Should You Use?, for forgery tells and the on-card vs. sticker distinction see How to Tell if a Sports Card Autograph Is Real, for card condition grading rather than signature authentication see PSA vs BGS vs SGC vs CSG: Which Grading Company Should You Use?, and for CGC Cards' own grading service see What Is CGC Card Grading?.