Collecting Autographs

Collecting Autographs

Collecting autographs is a hugely rewarding past time, but it can be costly, time consuming and sometimes fruitless. By allowing us to do the hard work for you, you get to have the autograph you've always wanted with minimal effort! The key points to keep in mind if autographs are what you would like in your collection are:

• Rarity - we always limit the number of covers we get signed, so you always know you'll be receiving a limited edition.
• Relevance - our signers are always related to the covers they're signing. This makes the signed article more desirable and have a worthy place in any collection.
• Content - what you collect is completely down to you and your interests. Some people collect just autographs on paper, others collect signed photographs. But content has an effect on the value and collectability of an item. We try and help lots of collectors, so we sell many different autographed items. It comes down to preference, but a signed piece of paper will be worth less than a signed document or photograph, so this is worth keeping in mind.
• Condition - this one is so important. A smudged autograph isn't great and if it's on a scrappy, dog-eared item, that's even worse! We deal in good condition items, and any of our covers that come back in not ideal condition, they unfortunately do not make the cut to be sold. We keep our standards high in order to give you the best possible collection.
• Authenticity - buying from us means you know you will be getting a genuine autograph. Some of us have been on forgery courses to train us to spot forged items, this is so they do not end up in our catalogues and in your collection!

Autographs On Covers

When thinking about what you'd like to fill your collection with, autographs are very popular. Like postmarks, the choice of most signatures can be obvious. Douglas Bader’s autograph on a Biggin Hill cover cost probably around 25p at the time it was signed. It now adds over £100 to the cover. Bobby Moore and Alf Ramsey are even more lucrative. Many collectors at the time paid £1 more for the pair and also did the same on the Winners issue. Today, the four covers would cost up to £2000!

Autographs are worth more on relevant covers and condition is very important.

Autographs Add Value

We have raised over £800,000 for good causes through signed covers. These will always be limited to the number of covers the celebrity is willing to sign. Since Tony started Buckingham Covers, we have tried to get the best signatures. It is not always possible but if you aim high, your standards stay high. If you look through our catalogue, you will see Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Geoff Hurst, Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Victoria Cross winners, Prime Ministers, film stars, in fact a Who’s Who. We are very proud of our charity work and of the great signatures we have obtained for collectors.

Warning About Signatures: Provenance is important. Bobby Moore signed many covers while he was alive and even more it seems, since he passed away! His signature is regularly forged. If you buy autographs (on covers or anything else), buy from someone you trust. We can all make mistakes but a reputable dealer will put it right. A Certificate of Authenticity from Mom and Pop Stamps is not worth the paper it was printed on.

Getting Autographs

Judging by some of your letters and comments, all we have to do is ask the Queen, the Pope, Tom Hanks, David Beckham etc and they will jump to it. Regrettably this is not the case, most of the time we have to go through agents, and being a celebrity is a busy business so getting hold of them can be an issue.

We are extremely fortunate that so many celebrities have helped, but there are so many charlatans claiming to raise money for charity that understandably celebrities have become suspicious. It gets harder and harder to get a letter read. Even if you are successful, there are still many snakes left on the board and a few ladders. Logistics can also be a nightmare; we have had our covers already signed and they have then gone AWOL. In one case, we couldn’t get replacements as the window of opportunity had gone. Luckily working so far in advance means we can usually correct the situation.

It can be worse. Years ago, when Tony was working with Granada and the Sherlock Holmes TV series, a batch of 500 covers were sent to actor Jeremy Brett to sign. He was in hospital and perhaps a little confused, so he generously signed them and gave them all away to his nurses (try explaining that to your angry waiting customers)! Luckily, we had anticipated big orders and had done some spares so we eventually managed to replace the 500 signed covers already sold.

We can have also the reverse problem. We sent a celebrity some covers but they came back with apologies that they wouldn’t have time after all. We found an alternative signature instead and forgot all about it until to our amazement, the original ones turned up, signed! It was really kind of both signers but left us with more covers than expected and to the collector, it may look like we were trying to sell more.

You would be startled to know how long things can take. We have known celebrities take two years to sign 100 covers! Although admittedly nothing was as long as a Jamaican railway issue that took three years! Also, you cannot rely on getting back the number of covers you sent. Shrinkage can be very costly.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.