Autograph Authentication Report
2024 SMZ Comics Metal Trading Card - Artist Auto - Eddie Nuñez · #ø
Findings
Signature comparison
This card. The signature as cropped from the slab photo (front).
Below, the known examples Crown compared it with. Examples with stronger proof (signed in front of staff, or certified by an independent authenticator) carry the most weight.
Feature by feature
| Feature | This card | Known examples | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall form and proportions | Abbreviated 'Nuñ…' form. A dominant tall capital N, then low, compressed lowercase humps, finished with a short separate accent/tilde mark at upper right. | R1, R2, R4, R5 and R6 all show a dominant tall N and short compressed following letters. The amount written varies: 'Nunn', 'Nuu' and 'Nui'. | Match |
| Slant and baseline | N is near-upright with a slight right lean. The humps sit on a level to slightly rising baseline. | Same near-upright N with a level or slightly rising baseline (R1, R5, R6). R2 and R3 lean a little more to the right. | Natural variation |
| Letter construction – capital N | Left stem drawn down. Long diagonal runs from the top of the left stem down to the base. The right stem rises tall, with a slight retrace or doubling at the base of the left stroke. | Same construction in R1, R2, R5 and R6. Tall right ascender, long diagonal, and slight doubling or retrace on the left stem, especially visible in R4 and R5. | Match |
| Letter construction – following letters | Rounded 'u' and 'n'-type humps flowing into a final open form. | R1 shows 'unn' humps very close to ours. R2, R4 and R5 show 'u' plus a cut-off 'i' or 'u'. R6 shows 'Nu' plus a truncated letter. | Natural variation |
| Connecting strokes | N connects continuously into the humps without a lift. | Continuous connection from N into the humps in all references. | Match |
| Starting and ending strokes / accent | Tapered start at the bottom of the left stem. The tilde/accent is a short separate stroke above the end. | The accent is present as a separate rising slash in R4 and R5, and as a hooked terminal in R1 and R2. Length varies from short to long. | Natural variation |
| Line quality and speed | Fluid, confident strokes with tapering ends and slight width variation. No visible tremor or hesitation at this resolution. | Fast, fluid strokes with tapered terminals throughout. | Match |
| Pen pressure pattern | Heavier on the downstrokes of the N, lighter on the diagonal and the terminals. Slight ink-density variation is visible in the white paint. | Similar heavy downstroke / light upstroke pattern, clearest in R1, R5 and R6. | Match |
| Spacing | Humps are tightly spaced and crowded after a wide N. | Same tight spacing after a wide N. | Match |
| Flourishes and underlines | No underline. Accent mark only. | No underlines. An accent or slash terminal is the only flourish. | Match |
| Placement and size | Large, placed over artwork in the upper right corner and oriented along the card's long axis, in white paint pen. | Large and placed over artwork in all references. Ink colour varies (white, pink, purple, light blue) and placement varies by card. | Natural variation |
Examiner notes
All material is from the same period. Our card is a 2024 SMZ Comics metal card, and every reference is an SMZ metal-card artist auto from roughly 2023–2025. Era drift is not a factor. The visible differences fall within ordinary signing-to-signing variation and are mostly a matter of how many letters after 'Nu' are written out. Surface and pen are the same type across the set: paint or metallic marker on a glossy metal card.
How Crown authenticates autographs: the signature is compared with known examples gathered from Crown's own authenticated cards, independent authenticators and public listings, measured by software, examined by an AI forensic model, and signed off by Crown Grading staff. The decision above is Crown's.
