Hi fellow collector
Elon Musk might be struggling with his tweets at the moment...
(And everybody else's for that matter.)
But at least he increased the value of his autograph last week.
And he did it with far less than 280 characters.
As he was approached by paparazzi in Virginia on Saturday, he shouted:
“I’m not doing any more signings ever again!”
He said security concerns meant he was done signing for fans. Which, given the obsessive nature of some Twitter users, is probably a wise move.
But it also likely made collectors even more determined to own his autograph.
When the supply is suddenly cut off, the secondary market springs into action.
And that's when prices can jump significantly almost overnight."No More Autographs!"Now we all know Elon can be a little... unpredictable.
Geniuses often are.
So there's a chance he could change his mind again in the future.
But for now, I expect to see another surge of collectors snapping up his memorabilia for increasing prices.
As a professional dealer of 45 years, I've seen it all before.
It happened in 1993 when Neil Armstrong stopped signing autographs.
And in 2008 when Ringo Starr did the same.
In October 2021 Paul McCartney also said he had ceased signing for fans – and since then the value of his autograph has shot up by an impressive 36%.
It's human nature really. We always want the things we can't have.
Collectors more than most.
Tell us an item is incredibly rare, and almost impossible to obtain... and suddenly it shoots to the top of our 'most wanted list'.
When you combine that rarity with historic importance and popular appeal, you can get spectacular results.
The Man from Apple
Just look at Steve Jobs.
Another man whose technology changed the world, with an army of devoted fans around the world.
The value of his autograph has absolutely skyrocketed in recent years.
It's now one of the most valuable signatures on the planet.
But that isn't merely down to his historic legacy as a computer pioneer.
Or the iconic nature and mass ownership of Apple products.
It's the fact that he signed so few autographs in his lifetime.
He regularly turned down requests, as they made him feel uncomfortable.
But he did have a very dry sense of humour, and once in a while he was happy to oblige.
Once of his most famous autographs dates from 1983, and a written request from an admirer.
Jobs sent him a wonderful reply, which read simply:
“I'm honoured that you'd write, but I'm afraid I don't sign autographs.”
And beneath he added “Sincerely, Steve Jobs” - with a perfect example of his signature.
That letter went up for auction in August 2021 valued at $10,000.
And sold for $480,000.
Stop procrastinating...
There are several reasons why an autograph's value can suddenly increase.
Sadly, the main reason is the death of the signer. Unforeseen or otherwise.
But an abrupt halt in supply can have the same effect.
And ideally, you want to acquire a signature before that jump in value.
So if there's an autograph on your 'most wanted' list you've been considering for a while...
It might be time to stop procrastinating and snap it up today.
Because you might end up paying a lot more for it in the future.As always, if you have any questions about rare autographs please feel free to get in touch.
Email me at info@paulfrasercollectibles.com.
Or call me on +44 (0) 117 933 9500.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks for reading,
Paul Fraser.
