Signing up
How celebrity autographs are turning out to be worth much more than the paper they’re written on
Marilyn Monroe: if it’s in
red ink, it’s probably fake
MORE THAN JUST A HOBBY, ARE AUTOGRAPHS BECOMING THE NEW STOCKS AND SHARES?
IT’S NOT OFTEN that a seven-year-old boy makes an investment decision that produces spectacular results 35 years later, but this has been the case with Alan Robinson. As a child, he met the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson when visiting Tolpuddle in Dorset, where the young Alan lived, and acquired his autograph. Fast forward to 2007 and Alan, now 42, has built up one of the finest collections of autographs in the world, spending around £100,000 in the process. Estimated to now be worth at least £1 million, a tenfold increase on his original investment, the collection of 10,000 signatures is being sold off at auction through International Autograph Auctions Ltd (IAA). The first tranche of 700 lots went at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow in London, for a total of £90,000, the day before the 2007 Oscars ceremony. The next tranche will come up for auction on 29 September.
But there should be no surprise at the amount the collection is expected to fetch, because the value of top-end autographs, such as those of Marilyn Monroe or The Beatles, has more than doubled over the last decade. There have been specialist dealers in this sector for at least 20 years, with niche auction houses springing up in the last decade, while the big three – Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams – all hold auctions containing autographs throughout the year. The IAA holds four or five sales a year devoted solely to autographs – the next is on 19 May and will feature a letter by Winston Churchill, dated 1 September 1920 and estimated to fetch between £1,000 to £1,500.
Meanwhile, the US-based Universal Autograph Collectors Club was founded in 1965 and now publishes a bi-monthly magazine, The Pen and Quill, to cater for a growing band of collectors, while on this side of the Atlantic, a group of dealers and private collectors formed the Autograph Council in 2004, partly as a way of combating fraud. It now shares a website with the Autograph Club of Great Britain.
Fraud in the area is rife, and the field of autograph collecting can be a swamp for the unwary. “Look for content,” says Richard Davie, director of IAA. “If it’s a letter, study the clarity of signature, condition and authenticity – the last can prove difficult. For example, when Marilyn Monroe was at Twentieth Century Fox, secretaries tended to sign her autographs for her in red ink, so if you find a Monroe autograph in red, there’s a 99% certainty it wasn’t hers. Charles Dickens favoured blue fountain pen ink, so a signature from him in any other colour is either a forgery or very, very early.”
Charles Dickens liked to sign
his name in inky blue
Autograph-hunting isn’t anything new. Queen Victoria was an avid collector, starting at 15 when, in 1834, former US President James Madison sent her one of his own. The famous banker JP Morgan was a collector, as were John F Kennedy and his mother, William Randolph Hearst, Franklin Roosevelt, Malcolm Forbes, Ray Bradbury and Glenn Ford, to name but a few. “People start collecting autographs because everyone has a hero and, short of meeting that person, this is the closest way of being near them,” says Davie, who began collecting about 20 years ago. “Then people go on to develop specialist areas. You could be interested in every actor who has ever won an Oscar, or every American President. Some people collect every astronaut who walked on the moon – there were only 12 of them.” The most sought after is Neil Armstrong, whose autographs can now go for $1,000 (approximately £510) and upwards, while a photo signed by the whole Apollo 11 crew, the first to land on the moon, can be as much as $5,000 (approximately £2,570).
The value of autographs depends on several factors: the fame of the person, the condition of the photograph (if that’s what the autograph’s on) and historical importance. The most expensive autograph ever sold on the open market was a letter written by Abraham Lincoln, which went for $748,000 in 1991 through Christie’s New York office.
Autograph values can escalate overnight if the individual involved has achieved something noteworthy. When Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street in 1979, the value of her autograph rose from £20 to £50. Today, a Thatcher autograph is for sale on www.writestuffautographs.com for £175. More recently, Helen Mirren’s autograph doubled in value after her Oscar win for The Queen, going for between £40 and £65 – it was £20 to £30 a few months earlier.
“The popularity of different types of autographs goes in trends,” says Davie. “Film stars, especially household names, are always popular. Religion is not a collectable area but papal signatures are (a signed photograph of John Paul II now sells for around £1,540). In the sports arena, football, cricket and motor racing are all highly collectable but table tennis isn’t.” In the recent Alan Robinson auction, the highest price was for a signed photograph of Greta Garbo, which went for £4,700 (Garbo autographs are rare because she didn’t sign many), while a James Dean fetched £4,000.
Letters from Elvis: an
autograph hunter’s goldmine
The Beatles’ autographs have seen a massive leap in prices over the last decade. Again, there can be a big difference in what an item is worth depending on the date and rarity value. “Beatles’ autographs from the early years, 1962 to 1964, are very common,” explains Sarah Hodgson, memorabilia expert at Christie’s, which holds two rock and pop auctions a year, and one devoted to Hollywood stars. “If you had a 1963 publicity shot signed by all four of them, it would be worth about £2,000 to £3,000, or up to £5,000 if it was a bold shot with good signatures. But autographs from the later period, 1966 to 1968, are worth a lot more. This is because they were no longer touring and so it was much more difficult to find all four signatures together. A signed photo by all of them from that period would be worth £5,000 to £7,000.”
But even those prices pale in comparison to what a rare item would fetch. If you should have a cover of the album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that has been signed by all four Beatles, then put it in a safe, because it’s worth at least £30,000.
Sarah Hodgson recalls something even more valuable: the famous cover picture had the four Beatles surrounded by cardboard cut-outs of numerous iconic figures, including Marlene Dietrich. The cut-out of Dietrich was subsequently signed by all four of them – and recently sold for £75,000.
Beatles’ signatures have also been found on more unusual items, such as a box of Liquorice Allsorts. When it came to light 10 years ago, it would have been worth £400 to £500. Now it is worth a minimum of £2,500. Even a red vinyl purse, which was owned by a fan who went to see them at a record signing in Stockholm, is valuable. She couldn’t afford to buy a record, so the boys signed her bag. It’s unusual, but not a picture, though, so is only worth around £1,000.
Despite their obvious rise in value, autograph collecting should not be seen as a real alternative to pension planning – there is no guarantee there will be any more leaps in price. But they definitely make an interesting alternative to stocks and shares.
GETTING STARTED
■ Where possible, start by collecting autographs in person. At the stage door of your local theatre or at a book signing are both good places. Once you have a few, you’ll start to feel like you have a collection on your hands.
■ You can write to celebrities to ask for an autograph but many, including Helen Mirren, no longer send them through the post as fans post them online and sell them.
■ Avoid eBay, no matter how enticing the item up for auction looks. Fraud is rife for the unwary, and a certificate of authenticity is pretty meaningless as it is only signed by the seller.
■ The fourth edition of The Official Autograph Collector Price Guide by Mark Allen Baker is useful, with tips on how to detect forgeries as well as get free ones.
■ Autograph Collector magazine is available to read online at www.autographcollector.com and will also help build up an area of expertise.
WHERE TO BUY
INTERNATIONAL AUTOGRAPH AUCTIONS
+44
(0)115 844 0244; www.autograph.auctions.co.uk
CHRISTIE’S
+44
(0)20 7839 9060; www.christies.com
SOTHEBY’S
+44
(0)20 7293 5000; www.sothebys.com
BONHAMS
+44
(0)20 7447 7447; www.bonhams.com
THE AUTOGRAPH CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN
www..acogb.co.uk
This website has a list of reputable dealers, who should offer refunds if the autograph turns out to be a fake.
