Collecting Checks • Salem Witch Trials • Dealer Spotlight • President’s Message • Celebrities Signing and more NUMBER SEVEN, FALL 2014 Audrey HepburnAn Influential Autograph Collecting Checks THE PEN & QUILL MAGAZINE • WWW.UACC.ORG Top 5 Riskiest Space Autographs Riskiest Top FiveBy: Steve Zarelli Riskiest Space Autographs Riskiest #2 - Neil Armstrong - Example C space autograph collecting were to have a If one were to judge purely on If popularity, John Glenn and Alan Mount Rushmore, you would need to carve five Shepard would certainly make the top five. But, Glenn and Shepard Be especially cau- heads into the side of the mountain. These are not nec- autographic material is common and tious of items with essarily the most important, popular, skilled or accom- easily obtained at relatively low cost. generic salutations If you were to judge based on skills such as “Happiness” plished astronauts, but from an autograph perspective, or accomplishment, it would be hard or “Good luck!” these would be the top five desirable space autographs to overlook Frank Borman or Gene Authentic examples Cernan. But like Glenn and Shepard, rarely feature non- and the cornerstones of a space collection. Cernan and Borman autographic personalized senti- material is in good supply. ments. It was simply This top 5 list is composed of the not the practice at most desirable and risky autographs the time. If Gagarin of flown space travelers. added a sentiment, it was almost always to a named individ- #1 – Yuri Gagarin ual—usually a party (1934–1968) official or dignitary. Also, be wary of Yuri Gagarin was the first human in multi-signed photos space when his Vostok spacecraft and anything that orbited the earth of April 12, 1961. also allegedly bears the signature of Yuri Gagarin is also one of the most Sergei Korolev. forged of any space traveler. In my opinion, 75% or higher of the Authentic Gagarins Gagarin autographs I review are are often found on not authentic (Example A; forgery). postcard portraits, Gagarin died behind the iron curtain which you could in 1968, but he traveled frequently expect to pay $500 and made appearances after his - $700 for a military #2 – Neil Armstrong flight. From all accounts, he was uniform pose (Example B; authen- a good signer while in crowds, so tic). Spacesuit poses are less com- (1930–2012) authentic material exists, but it is mon and sell for a premium. In my heavily outweighed by the fakes. estimation, the high volume of fakes Neil Armstrong is one of the most significantly suppress the value of desirable autographs of any 20th One Russian dealer in particular authentic material. If one could wave century figure. His autograph is has dumped thousands of mass- a magic wand and make all the fakes quite common because he signed produced Gagarins on the market in disappear, I suspect authentic Gaga- freely for over 30 years—in person the guise of “found collections” from rins would be selling in the $1,500 and through-the-mail. At the height #1 - Yuri Gagarin - Example A; forgery fabricated Russian officials. - $2,000 range. of his fame in the 70s, it is reported #1 - Yuri Gagarin - Example B; authentic 12 13 #4 Gus Grissom - Example G; authentic #3 Bill Anders - Example E; authentic #3 Bill Anders - Example F; forgery he received hundreds of autograph requests per week and signed them all (but usually one per “customer” as he used to say). I estimate there are tens of thousands (if not more) Armstrong autographs in circula- tion. (Example C on previous page; authentic). Despite the fact there are so many in circulation, demand is higher still. Neil Armstrong is truly a global figure with global demand. Inter- est in Neil Armstrong’s autograph extends beyond just space collec- tors and crosses in to historical and general autograph collectors world- wide. There are very few figures who enjoy global demand that cuts across cultures, language and borders—and Neil Armstrong is among those few. Armstrong is highly forged and great caution is advised (Example D; Apollo 11 forgery). Be wary of any “cheap” Armstrong autographs because authentic examples never “go on sale.” #4 Gus Grissom - Example H; forgery autographs and died long before the Expect to pay around $750 for a era of commercial signings. Because signed cut, $1,000 for a clean index of his popularity, relatively well- Example D - Apollo 11 forgery card, $1,300 for a personalized space #4 – Gus Grissom executed forgeries date back to the suit portrait and $3,500 - $4,000 for early 1970s—a time when astronaut an unpersonalized portrait. Unique (1926–1967) forgeries were almost unheard of. poses or lunar surface images are invested in an item that is fatally Grissom can be a tough to authenti- uncommon and can fetch as high as signs grudgingly at events, but stops flawed (Example F; forgery). Gus Grissom holds a special place cate because he had a great deal of $20,000 for prime specimens. if too many people ask and he has in the hearts and minds of space natural variation, especially on the never signed commercially (Example postal covers, Anders would sign in Be wary of any Anders item that is collectors. Not only was he a mem- shape of the Gs. With Grissom, “feel E; authentic). the area of the artwork. carefully and neatly signed in an ber of the United States’s first group and flow” are essential. #3 – Bill Anders area of good contrast and looks “too of astronauts—the Mercury 7—but Anders seems to take delight in con- Anders is highly forged and many good to be true.” Most portrait pho- he also tragically died in the 1967 Most autographs should be on of- Bill Anders had only one spaceflight founding collectors as well. He signs Apollo 8 crew items bear a fake tos should be personalized. While Apollo 1 fire. ficial NASA lithographs, postal covers on Apollo 8, yet he is one of the using many wildly different variants Anders. What I have seen over the cleanly signed crew items exist, they or ad hoc items signed at events. Be most desirable and elusive astronaut and intentionally signs in dark areas years is collectors will buy an Anders trade for a heavy premium. To this day, Gus Grissom is one of wary of signed 8x10 glossy “action autographs. Anders has been a reluc- and where the signature will have signed photo or postal cover on the Expect to pay $350 and up for a the most sought-after astronaut poses.” These items may have ex- tant signer since he joined NASA. At the least contrast. Even examples secondary market, and then add Bor- postal cover or personalized Bill autographs (Example G; authentic). isted, but were not readily available one time he would occasionally sign signed for fellow NASA colleagues man and Lovell through commercial Anders photo. An unpersonalized ex- While he was a somewhat willing in his lifetime. Often uncommon through the mail, but has not done often have sloppy, poorly applied signings. Regrettably, the Anders that ample with solid provenance and a signer in his lifetime, he had a rela- signed “action” glossies bear forger- so in many years. He sometimes signatures in dark areas. On many started it all is a fake, so someone clean signature could fetch $1,000+. tively small window of time to sign ies (Example H; forgery). 14 15 #5 Edward White - Example I; authentic Collecting Celebrity Checks By: Al Wittnebert It started when I attended a UACC show at the Abby Victoria Hotel in New York City in 1974. A construc- tion guy walked in to the show with just after Three Stooges tough guy a shoebox full of Thomas Edison Moe Howard passed away, I received #5 Edward White - Exampl J; forgery signed checks. It seems he was doing a call from Moe’s daughter Joan who work on the old Edison Labs in Or- told me the family had a stack of her Black and white 4x6 photos ange, New Jersey and was instructed father’s checks and would sell them that Grissom sometimes sent for to throw away a pile of boxes of to our members for $10.00 each mail requests trade for around $500 documents in the trash. He looked in the form of a donation to UCLA - $600. Full size NASA lithograph at the checks and tossed the small Medical Center. Once we published portraits typically sell for $1,000, and box in the cab of his pick up truck. the offer, I received a frantic call Attractiveness of Authenticity more for unpersonalized examples. quickly and with a refined hand, his For the purpose of this article I He remembered reading about the from Joan asking me to have the col- Postal covers can be obtained in the signature is a difficult target for forg- focused on flown space travelers. If autograph show in the paper and lectors stop. She went thorough 450 Signed checks offer collectors a chance $300 range. ers…but they try anyway. one was to include unflown astro- thought he could sell them. checks in a matter of days. to acquire rare authentic autographs Forgeries are often typified by a nauts and cosmonauts, there are like Bruce Lee, Clark Gable, Elvis Pre- heavy, sluggish appearance (Example many who would be much tougher sley, Walt Disney and Marilyn Monroe. #5 – Edward White J; forgery) compared to the wispy and rare than the “Top 5” discussed A Shoebox of Edison Checks Passion for Collecting The majority of genuine Jim Morrison (1930–1967) and fast look of an authentic exam- here.