What Makes an Autograph Valuable?

Many people believe that simple celbrity or age makes an autograph valuable.  Hardly.

Some of the most valuable items collectors have in their possession are journals by unknowns who witnessed and wrote about a famous event, such as a Civil War battle. So, number one, context can be very important.

Number two, condition is critical. It's amazing that people will keep an item signed by some minor celebrity (and in Hollywood, that covers most everyone; only major stars' autographs keep their value) and they'll let it become crumpled. Often, it's just a signature on a card, which few collectors are really interested in. They don't understand you have to keep the item in good condition

In short, would you be willing to buy from a collector or autograph dealer an item that is in less than pristine condition? Especially if someone else has something similar that is?

Photos are Valued

Number three, the item itself is important. A signed index card, as I referred to before, is relatively valueless from a collector's standpoint. The best way to increase the value of something like that is to match it with a photo of the signer and mat them together in a frame. Otherwise, the signed card only imparts that the celebrity can sign his name.

Despite some really interesting autograph items that are out there, photos are most highly valued. Perhaps because they can be easily stored and displayed.

Some other nice items can be signed as well, including CD's, comic book covers (for a colorful wall display), programs (easily available at performances), hardcover books (especially by authors), or any number of other items. Robert ("Psycho") Bloch was once asked at a fan convention to actually sign a shower stall or a shower stall door, I'm not really sure which, and he did so, adding "Dangerous When Wet."

But it always comes back to photos. Professional autograph dealers who collect in-person autographs from celebrities at airports and public events keep boxes of alphabetically-arranged photos in their car trunks because that's what their customers want to buy...in-person signed photos.

Inscriptions Decrease Value

Number four, the signature itself. A signature with a personalized inscription (such as, "To Nick, Best Wishes") is less valued than a simple signature or signature with the sentiment, but not the name of the person who collected it. Oddly enough, as I understand it, that even includes celebrities who lived long enough ago that you couldn't possibly have gotten your autograph from them yourself.

Collections Result in Value to the Rarity

Number five. Like anyone else, collectors like to collect groups. Academy Award winners, Grammy winners, Supreme Court Justices, even some tough ones like Presidents or Signers of the Declaration of Independence. That affects value. Buttons Gwinnett has an extremely valuable signature. You may not have heard of him, but he signed the Declaration of Independence and little else. Only a half dozen or so of his signatures have ever been found, one of them on a letter pasted on an outhouse wall. To have a complete collection of signers you would have to compete for a Gwinnet signature, if and when it becomes available. And, as a result, it runs about $500,000 last time I checked.

So there you are. A few observations on what affects the value of an autograph