What is my autograph worth?

By Autografica

Apr 11, 2018

How much is my autograph worth, and do you buy or value autographs?



Well yes, we do buy autographs, but, the big question is, how much are they worth? This is a question we get asked on a daily basis, and it’s not an easy one to answer as it can depend so much on so many different things.

• Whose signature is it?
• How rare is that signature?
• How good is the signature?
• What is the demand for that signature?
• What is it signed on?
• Is it dedicated?
• What condition is it in?
Let’s take a look at each of these separately by starting with whose signature it is.



Some people are very well known and may have been great signers in their day, they may well have been household names, but what did they achieve and were they known the world over? Many of the names we see in old autograph books were certainly well known in their day, and may well have been household names, but were they known the world over? Max Bygraves and Tommy Trinder were certainly household names here in the UK, but virtually unknown anywhere else, appearing mainly on TV and Radio, which greatly diminishes their value, with today’s value being only a few £’s



Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne on the other hand were also household names, but were known the world over and made films that are still shown today, and as a consequence are worth a great deal more.



Then again, names such as Jonas Salk and Nikola Tesla are not well known at all, but because they contributed to the world in a different way, can be worth hundreds of £’s. If you don’t know either of these two names, then perhaps you should consult Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as they will certainly know!



Which brings us on to rarity value. Max and Tommy were both great signers as they often appeared in theatre around the country, so their signatures are common. Marilyn and John Wayne were the opposite, mainly appearing in films with much fewer in the way of public appearances. This then makes their signatures much rarer, and because of their world wide success and their films still being shown today, their values are much higher.



How good is the signature? Some people have more than one signature, others have a signature that never varies at all. Many modern day stars often scribble anything at all just to satisfy the demand, whilst others will take a little time to create something memorable when adding their autograph to your book or photo. The better the signature, the more it will be worth, and its worth remembering this when collecting in person and can sometimes be worth asking the signer to add something to it, his world record time, or his favourite film title etc.



What is the autograph signed on? For obvious reasons a large format quality photograph taken by a famous photographer and signed by the star, will command a much higher price than a quick signature scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet! But at the same time, just because a signature is on something unusual may make it rarer, but not always more valuable, which reminds me of a Tommy Cooper* sketch which goes something like this…”I went up into the attic the other day and found a Stradivarius and a Rembrandt. Unfortunately Stradivarius was a terrible painter and Rembrandt made lousy violins” So do you really want a Violin signed by Rembrandt or a painting signed by Stradivarius? Just because it’s on something unusual, may well make it rare, but that does not always make it more valuable, but swap those signatures around and suddenly you’re a very rich man!



What is the demand? The signature could be rare undedicated and on a perfect condition photo of the person who has signed it, but unless you can find someone who collects autographs of Monumental Masons of the 19th century, you are not going to get much profit on it!



Dedication? A dedication is when the item is signed to someone ‘To John, all my love Marilyn’ and in almost every case, this will be worth less than one which is undedicated. Unless of course it’s on a photo of Marilyn Monroe!



Condition? Well obviously the better the condition of the item, the more value it has. It’s not uncommon to see signatures that have faded away due to the effects of the sun (UV light, and you can find out more about this in my ‘storage guides’) or photographs which have been trimmed down to fit a frame (never trim any item!).



In addition, one mans definition of perfect, is another man’s not worth adding to the collection! Whist many sellers will also use the word ‘rare’ to describe the most common of autographs, and ‘valuable’ to create the illusion that the item is worth much more than it really is.



An easy way to put a value on an item is to use the advanced search on ebay. This way you can search for 'sold' items as this will give you an accurate value based on what an item has sold for in the past, rather than the inflated price so many sellers think their item is worth!



So what autographs do we buy? Another tough question, but I can say that we do not buy stars from soaps, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent or one hit wonder here today gone tomorrow so called ‘stars’ no matter what they are signed on! However, if you do have anything signed by Monroe, Stradivarius or Rembrandt, then do give us a call.



*For those of you who are outside of the UK, Tommy Cooper was a very well known TV and stage comedy magician. He was the kind of performer who only had to walk on stage to get a laugh, and you really have to see his comedy to understand it, as simply reading that line about the Stradivarius and the Rembrandt is not that funny on its own, but put it in the hands of a natural funny talent such as Tommy and its comedy gold. You can find plenty about Tommy on the web, or simply ask any Englishman over the age of about 45 to do an impression of Tommy and you will instantly bring a smile to their face, as Tommy was a one off and could make just about anyone laugh without even telling a joke.

Sadly, Tommy died on stage live on peak time TV in 1984.

Visit my web site:
https://www.autografica.co.uk/

Autografica

Autografica is owned and run by Garry King.

Autografica started in the late 1980's as a by product of Garry's collecting habits, and became a full time business in 1993 when Garry finally sold his then retail business. During these past 20+ years Autografica have become one of the best-known autograph dealers in the UK, and now have contacts all around the world. Garry has attended all the relevant UACC authentication and appraisal courses both here and in the USA, as well as organizing and running a very successful AFTAL backed course for dealers and collectors here in the UK.

Garry also started the well known 'Autographica' event (note the very slightly different spelling) with Dave Phillips, the first event being in Northampton in 2000. The event soon became the largest of it's kind in the world, but the online autograph business at Autografica needed more time, so the share of the event was sold to Showmasters, and it continues under their guidance to this day.

Autografica now supply items to customers all over the world both trade and retail, and are one of a very small number of people whose expert testimony is accepted by courts in autograph fraud cases. We also offer authentication help to other dealers and auction houses in the UK.

Autografica have been featured on many local and national radio and TV stations including the BBC’s ‘Inside Out’ (twice), The Real Hustle, The One Show, Pawn Stars UK, Posh Pawn and two series of Fake Britain with Dominic Littlewood, the last one featuring a recent court case which you can find here).

Radio includes many local BBC and independent radio stations, Chris Evans Drive time show, The Steve Wight show, Venessa Feltz show as well as local and national papers and magazines, including the Times, The Guardian and a 4 page spread in F1 magazine.

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