How Do You Know What an Sports Autograph is Worth?

How Do You Know What an Sports Autograph is Worth?

Have you recently started to become interested in autograph collecting and would like to know the present day market value of

an autograph that you are interested in purchasing? Or have you inherited an estate from a family member and was surprised to

find an abundance of autographed photos, items, cards, posters that you have no idea how to find the value much less who to

sell them too?

There are several sources to find out how much your collectible or autographed sports collectible is worth. The internet has

open a world at our finger tips, with online auctions to online stores, published price guides that can be purchased at most

bookstores offer a rough estimate, mainly it is worth what someone is will to pay for the item. Online Auctions are now a

great source of finding out just that.

The key points that influence the value of autographed sports memorabilia is supply, demand, condition, form, content,

subject, rarity. There is a demand for certain celebrity autographs and people willing to buy and sell them. That creates the

market, which determines the value which is understood by both buyer and seller. Collecting autographs usually starts with a

particular interest in and individual or occupation or interest in a certain subject. It is one of those hobbies that once

you dibble in become a passion. Then in time become a very nice investment as those of you who have inherited collections and

were surprise to find out that their value was more than you had ever imagined.

Many categories determine the price of a signature from an individual. The following abbreviations are used to help describe

the type of letter or document that is being offered for sale.
· AD: Autograph Document (hand-written by the person to be collected, but not signed)
· ADS: Autograph Document Signed (written and signed by same individual)
· AL: Autograph Letter (hand-written by the person to be collected, but not signed)
· ALS: Autograph Letter Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
· AMs: Autograph Manuscript (hand-written; such as the draft of a play, research paper or music sheet)
· AMsS: Autograph Manuscript Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
· AMusQs: Autograph Musical Quotation Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
· AN: Autograph Note (much shorter than a letter)
· ANS: Autograph Note Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
· AQS: Autograph Quote Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual; poem verse, sentence, or bar-of-music)
· DS: Document signed (printed, or while hand-written by another, is signed by individual sought to be collected)
· LS: Letter Signed (hand-written by someone else, but signed by the individual sought to be collected)
· PS: Photograph Signed or Postcard Signed
· SIG: Signature on index card, cut out of autograph book or letter
· SP: Signed Photograph
· TLS: Typed Letter Signed
· TNS: Typed Note Signed
· folio: A printer's sheet of paper folded once to make two leaves, double quarto size or larger.
· octavo(8vo): A manuscript page about six-by-nine inches. (Originally determined by folding a printer's sheet of paper to

form eighty leaves.)
· quarto(4to): A manuscript page of about nine and one-half by twelve inches. (Originally determined by folding a printer's

sheet of paper twice to form two leaves.)
Not only does the category determine price, but so does condition, quality, rarity and the person of interest celebrity will

also play a major part in determining value. As you will see in future weekly articles; a detail definition of each

abbreviation, so you will become more educated in the valuation process of collecting.