How much would you pay for a star’s autograph?
Ever fancied owning the autograph of your hero?
Then prepare to spend big and tread carefully in a field teeming with forgeries and unscrupulous sellers.
Because trying to obtain something which has a genuine signature on is a minefield where one false step can see a mighty hole blown in your bank account.
And if there’s one man worth having by your side to guide you through the perils, it is surely Garry King.
The Rochester-based expert has been dubbed the ‘King of Autographs’ courtesy of decades of experience and a reputation for only dealing in the real thing.
His Autographs.co.uk website features the signatures of everyone from the Queen to Fidel Castro, Elvis Presley to Princess Diana, and the Rolling Stones to Neil Armstrong.
In addition, he provides a service using his expertise to weed out the fakes from the genuine.
But even he admits, despite all his best efforts, authenticating items with any real certainty can never deliver a 100% guarantee. “You can only be absolutely certain if you’ve seen it signed yourself,” he explains. “I can certainly check an autograph and believe it to be genuine, but I can only ever be 99% sure.
“For example, someone contacted me recently with a Queen album signed by all four original band members. “This guy wants to sell it, so I do my homework on it.
“In the case of Queen, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or Elvis Presley, the really big names, I’d normally get a second opinion from another expert.”
Even then, the most sophisticated forgers have ways to replicate the famous names.
But when you know what those methods are, you also know what to look for.
And the reason people go to such great lengths? Well, a genuine signed album by Queen can fetch in the region of £3,000.
It is price fuelled, of course, by the untimely death of its charismatic frontman Freddie Mercury. And there is no clearer example of how ‘death sells’ than in the autograph market.
If you own something scribbled on by the late
Beatles star John Lennon you can probably afford a rather nice holiday should you choose to sell it. One recent example which Garry King sold through his website went for a staggering £2,600. He explains: “Paul McCartney’s signature today fetches £700, which is a lot of money for someone who is still alive. If you were in London at the right time, you could bump into him going in and out of his office. He’s easily accessible in that respect. He doesn’t always sign, but he’s accessible.
“But if he popped his clogs tomorrow, that £700 signature would probably go up to £2,000. “Normally, the first few days after someone famous dies, people will pay stupid amounts of money. Then as the auctions start ending they drop off and it gradually starts to go down. Higher than it was, but the prices stabilise. “Or then you have the likes of Michael Jackson who becomes embroiled in claims and the bottom falls out of the market for a while.
“It’s the same with Rolf Harris - his market just sunk without a trace.”
The Beatles, unsurprisingly, continue to command eyewatering prices. All fab four members together can command a price of anywhere between £4,000-7,000 - even more if they are all on an album or photo.
A signed postcard featuring the signatures of Dartford rockers the Rolling Stones is currently up for grabs for £2,500 while you’ll get one pence change from £1,000 for a signed David Bowie album. A cheque signed by Marilyn Monroe will set you back £2,999.
The aforementioned Michael Jackson sells for anything between £800 to £1,500.
But bargains canbehad.The signature of 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst will set you back less than £20 and a signed photo of Sir David Attenborough less than £30. The big, historic names, are currently attracting a new wave of buyers - seeing the autograph market as a wise investment opportunity.
Adds Garry King: “There’s one person who has been buying things from me recently - a multi-millionaire whose name you’d recognise. They realise they’re not just nice to have on your wall, but the ones he is buying are only going to maintain and increase in value.
“Now is the time to invest. If you invest wisely they pay off. That’s why I’m still in business.”