The world of autograph collecting is as diverse as the human race itself–from actors to authors, poets to presidents, baseball players to band leaders–somewhere there is someone who collects that notable person’s autograph!
But which of your items are valuable? How do you know what to try and sell on eBay and what to throw out, pack away or pass along to the next generation?
What follows are a few general guidelines for determining the value of an autographed photo or item. (I will try and cover more specific areas of autograph collecting in future articles.)
How Well-known Is/Was the Person? I’ve seen people get very excited about obtaining the autograph of a local weatherman or little-known actor, but unfortunately those types of signatures are never going to be worth very much. The more people that know and remember the person, the more valuable the autograph is likely to be. The signature of an actress like Marilyn Monroe is worth much more than the signature of an obscure actor or actress, even though the latter may have appeared in many more movies. If you have an autograph of a particular person, ask a few friends or family if they’ve heard of the person. The more that have, the more likely your autograph has some significant value.
Scarcity of the signature. In addition to how well known the person was, the scarcity of the signature is also an important factor. Jimmy Stewart was a very well known actor, yet he was also a very generous autograph signer, so his signature is not going to be worth as much as someone like, say James Dean, the Rebel Without A Cause actor who died at a young age.
What type of item is signed? In general, signed photos are worth more than signed scraps of paper, signed menus, etc. Signed books can be valuable, depending partly on the inscription. (A longer inscription can add value.) There are also many collectors of signed baseballs, signed guitars, signed drawings, etc.
Condition. Condition. Condition. Like most collectibles, condition is very important. A baseball signed by Babe Ruth that has a clear, bold signature can bring $10,000, while a Babe Ruth baseball with a faded signature might only be worth a fraction of that. Is the signature easy to read and does it stand out well? Signatures that are smudged, water damaged and faded can have very little value, even if signed by someone very famous.
Dead Or Alive? How long did they live? It may be a morbid subject to some, but it’s an autograph collecting fact that the value of a person’s autograph will usually rise after the person has passed away. The longer they lived, the more they may have signed. Of course, this is not always the case, as noted in the following section:
Approachable or Unobtainable? Greta Garbo is an example of a celebrity who, though she lived a long life and was a very big star, also HATED signing autographs. The autographs of certain Presidents, public figures, etc., may not be quite as valuable as you may think simply because they signed a lot of autographs.
I realize the above is a just a quick general guide, but hopefully it gives you a start on deterring the value of your items!
