Share this pageInvesting in Autographs
A free guide to investing in Autographs
"None of my other investments give me the joy that autographs do because they make me feel that I am holding a piece of history in my hands."
Malcolm Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine
Signed photos from Marilyn Monroe, autograph album pages bearing the signatures of the Beatles, historical documents signed by kings and politicians. All come under the banner of autographs, and all offer terrific investment potential, with impressive year-on-year price increases.
Reasons to invest
Supply shortage: The majority of the most collectible signers are no longer with us, ensuring a finite supply of autographs.
A growing demand: There are 3m serious autograph collectors around the world and this figure is set to rise. Autographs are a booming area for collectors, thanks to increasing demand for unique examples, especially among those who are aware of the investment potential of autographs but who are constrained by budgetary issues - rare autographs can still be found at the more affordable end of the collectibles sector.
Soaring values: This clamour for autographs, allied with a finite supply, is seeing prices rise.They may not be "entry-level investments" for long. The PFC40 Autograph Index has revealed that values of the 40 most regularly traded autographs grew by 13.93% pa between 2000 and 2012.
Unaffected by credit crunch: Rare autographs, like most collectibles, have an extremely low correlation to other investment areas. This ensures that they provide wonderful diversity for your portfolio.
Historical performance
 Up 155% in just 12 months |
Neil Armstrong stopped signed autographs in 1994, making the first man on the Moon's signature extremely rare even before his passing in August 2012. According to the PFC40 Autograph Index his autograph grew in value from £550 ($870) to £7,500 ($11,910) between 2000 and 2012, at a rate of 24.32% pa. His death will see demand soar, and values rise still further.
The last cheque signed by Marilyn Monroe, on the day before her death, made $15,000 in July 2012, 50% above estimate.
The value of signed photos containing all four Beatles signatures has risen from £5,500 ($8,730) in 2000 to £25,000 ($39,695) today, according to the PFC 40 Autograph Index - a rise of 13.45% pa.
A signed photograph of Princess Diana in 2000 would have cost around £1,200 ($1,910). In 2012 they were worth around £8,950 ($14,225) - that's an 18.23% pa growth rate.
The first Richard III signed document to appear on the market in 40 years achieved £109,250 ($168,900) in June 2012, beating its valuation by 628.3%.
A client of ours sold an Oscar Wilde-signed photo at Bonhams for £20,400, just 12 months after buying it from us for £8,000 - a return of 155%.
Contact us for further information on investing in art and photography on +44 (0) 117 933 9500 or info@paulfrasercollectibles.com
View our autographs stock for sale here.
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