In some countries buildings with multiple entrances, there will be entrance code assigned to each.
So there will be entrance=staircase ref=19
and so on, and it would be typical to give visitors instructions in form “Zielona Street 9, entrance 19, flat 278”
Is there some accepted/reasonable tagging for “I checked this entrance in area where entrances are expected to have signs, and there was nothing signed there?” What about ref:signed=no
?
(triggered by https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/3064 )
the typical way would be noref=yes, as we do with noname=yes
also already used in significant numbers:
https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/keys/noref
you even edited the wikipage yourself: Difference between revisions of "Key:noref" - OpenStreetMap Wiki
maybe I misunderstood you, do you want to tag there is a ref but not sign for it?
I want to tag that there is no sign and ref maybe is present or maybe not.
Though maybe noref=yes
outright is also viable.
I think if there could be a ref but the only thing for sure is it is not signed, then your original proposal is fine: ref:signed=no
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Might be nitpicking, but I’d say put noref=yes
at first, and if you (or anyone) find that ref does exists somewhere, add it and ref:signed=no
. Start simple, assume that if not signed it probably doesn’t exists anywhere and expand when you know more.
My 2 cents.
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Might be nitpicking, but I’d say put ref=no
at first, and if you (or anyone) find that ref does exists somewhere, add it and ref:signed=no
. Start simple, assume that if not signed it probably doesn’t exists anywhere and expand when you know more.
ref=no is not suitable because it can be easily confused with ref=no

Sorry, I edited my post.
I took me a while to understand your point (which makes it only more valid) ! 
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For me noref=yes
means “no assigned reference”, not “unsigned reference, status unclear”
While ref:signed=no
means “unsigned reference, reference code may or may not be assigned” rather than “reference code is assigned but not signed”
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