@JMS1223 said:
This is NOT mine but it’s the first time I have ever seen ANY example of something from the newest Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett. Interestingly this was written and signed on the very day Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. It sold for $1750! That just goes to show how extremely rare her signature is.
Found this for sale again on eBay. This time in a frame. Sadly it only sold for $950 this time around instead of the original $1750 it went for ten months ago so the seller took quite a loss.
I don't even like framing job. The writing near the edges is cut off or cramped.
The buyer paid top dollar the first time around. I would have assumed it was a collector.
I agree - not a fan of the frame job. I think it might just be a cheap frame someone picked up for a few dollars and decided to “dress up” the letter and envelope hoping maybe it would enhance it. It does the opposite in my opinion.
I also thought it was purchased by a collector. Or maybe it was and they needed money so they sold it at a loss (like I had done in 2011 with some of the high end autographs I purchased off RRAuction and resold on eBay for like 25%-50% of purchase price).
I found this amazing photo signed by the first four woman Supreme Court Justices. The seller actually got it signed in person (so it didn’t go through the “zapper” or get ruined by the screening process at all) and also no third party authentication sticker on photo. It is probably the only one in existence as I had never seen another anywhere else - just that Chambers Card and that was only signed by THREE not FOUR. If someone really wanted to they could send the Chambers Card to Kagan, risk it by having it zapped on the way to her and hoping she signed it or at least returned it which is way too risky in my opinion.
The only down side is the price for this one is - $9000! The seller did offer my a $1000 discount so I could have it for $8000. Nope, too much for me. I could MAYBE do $2500.
So this is NOT a one of a kind. I found one other.
This one has much neater signatures but the photo is inside a matte and the matte itself is signed instead of the photo. This one sold for $5000.
I sent one of these photos to Elena Kagan via Priority Mail (to avoid the zapper) but it never came back. I also sent a few gifts to other Supreme Court Justices via Priority Mail and never received any response. Well, I have a new theory. I think maybe perhaps the Supreme Court simply throws away all mail and correspondence that doesn’t get zapped, especially in this day and age with covid and tightened security for Supreme Court Justices. They might make exceptions if sender is someone very important.
@JBK said:
The two photos are slightly different poses (look at
Kagan).
Do you know when this meeting occurred? I'm wondering if only insiders got a realistic chance to get them.
The signing of the mat is not unheard of but it is very unusual for a collector to get it done that way.
Photo was taken in October of 2010 shortly after Kagan got sworn in. They took several different photos that day including Kagan’s official portrait and many different group photos of the female Justices (O’Connor was retired at this time) as well as a few other combinations where they had two or three of the different females Justices together. They likely also took the group of nine Justices photo that day too or around the same time.
I have seen a few individual Supreme Court Justice photos where they signed on matte (a few of O’Connor and some others like Breyer, Scalia, Stevens come to mind).
SDO'C officially retired from public life due to cognitive issues in 2018, but I believe she had essentially stopped signing a few or several years earlier than that.
Plus, that photo was from long after they started zapping mail.
And, of course, RBG had stopped routinely signing almost 15 years prior.
@JBK said:
SDO'C officially retired from public life due to cognitive issues in 2018, but I believe she had essentially stopped signing a few or several years earlier than that.
Plus, that photo was from long after they started zapping mail.
And, of course, RBG had stopped routinely signing almost 15 years prior.
I think the most recent authentic O’Connor signature I have seen (on a letter) was signed in 2006 or so. Other items definitely could be later but they weren’t dated for me to know for sure. Of course this photo being taken in 2010 would mean it would have to have been signed after that date. I heard she stopped completely (I think no fakes are even sent now) in 2018 or so as well.
This photo/matte definitely could had been signed in person like the other one. I always wondered what it was like to meet a Supreme Court Justice at the Supreme Court. I would had loved to meet RBG when she was there. The last time the Supreme Court Building was open to the public was in early 2020 before the pandemic.
Found an example of a Ruth Bader Ginsburg photo that was signed on the matte. I read (and hope to find/learn more about this) that these matted photos were sold by the official Supreme Court gift shop and signed by the Justices. They had the larger versions (16x20) with all nine Justices signed, various smaller group photos and the individual Justices signed photos. If I am not mistaken they charged like $120 for them sometime during O’Connor’s tenure since that is what an eBay seller told me when they offered me one and told me of how they got it.
I also read a tiny bit about the black and white 6x9 paper photos that the Justices sent ttm predominately between the 1980s and 1990s. They probably sent them for free ttm after numerous requests for signed photos and requesters not wanting to buy the color matted photos. I really want to learn more about these photos but can’t find much information on them. I know of two different RBG poses that she signed. The December 3rd, 1993 pose (most common and same photo as matted one below but in black and white) and 2006 pose. I am curious if the other official RBG poses had 6x9 paper photos made up but are rarely seen due to RBG quitting signing ttm. I noticed Clarence Thomas has two different poses as well, his original one and a later one. Did/do they make new 6x9 paper photos each time they take/took a new individual official portrait of the Justice?
The less commonly seen 2006 pose in 6x9 paper photo form
The above slabbed Kagan cut signature makes me very upset for a few reasons.
First, it is $125 plus shipping and tax, so more like $137.
Second, they destroyed a Kagan letter to get this cut.
Third, I don’t care about the slab or authentication.
Fourth, I could had gotten Kagan free ttm a year ago (really mad I didn’t start writing the Justices sooner) but since I only just decided I wanted one earlier this year I have yet to receive a response from her despite a few attempts (still holding out hope I get at least one request back and it’s NOT autopen which I fear she may have started using).
Fifth, this will probably cause others that own Kagan autographs to either up their prices and/or cut their Kagan signed letters and getting the cut slabbed to sell for bigger price. I have already seen this happen with Thomas, cut down index cards (and other items) slabbed and put up for sale for over $100 whereas unslabbed ones routinely sell for $10-$20 range. Also seen it with several other past Justices with slabbed cut signatures. I fear the slabbing business will corner the market and we will no longer be able to find cheap unslabbed ones. I miss the days of buying cheap Supreme Court Justice autographs of ones that we missed ttm. Also less likely to find full letters or personalized ones since it seems they get targeted for cutting.
@JMS1223 said:
Found one more example of the 2006 photo signed.
This is the much more common 1993 photo she signed ttm before she officially quit in 2011 (according to my research).
Found another version of a 6x9 Supreme Court photo Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This was used around 2002.
So now that makes three different poses for official 6x9 Black and White Supreme Court photos RBG sent out over the years. There may be more poses yet to be discovered. If you come across any others I would highly appreciate you posting them here.
I see that the USPS will issue an RBG stamp next year (no date yet).
The USPS sells FDCs for new issues. They don't have cachets, just a stamp and postmark, although the postmarks are sometimes pretty elaborate. Aftermarket sources usually create cachets on FDCs.
These could be good for getting special signatures on, perhaps from other SC justices.
@JBK said:
I see that the USPS will issue an RBG stamp next year (no date yet).
The USPS sells FDCs for new issues. They don't have cachets, just a stamp and postmark, although the postmarks are sometimes pretty elaborate. Aftermarket sources usually create cachets on FDCs.
These could be good for getting special signatures on, perhaps from other SC justices.
I will definitely want to buy some. There are definitely some people I would try to send them for autographs. Thanks for alerting me. It’s good to know FDCs are just stamp and postmark which means plenty of room for autograph(s) even if postmark is elaborate.
Excited about the opportunities these will give me. Please keep me up to date for when they go on sale.
Was just browsing eBay and to my surprise I found in completed auction two of Sonia Sotomayor’s books signed. Her autobiography My Beloved World signed and NOT-personalized only brought $1.25. And her children’s book that came out earlier this year brought just over $15 (these sold for $20 at bookstore). So happy I didn’t end up buying that Sotomayor signed letter for $150 Buy It Now earlier this year. Probably not worth much after seeing these. I know letters can sometimes bring more than signed books but I have a hard time believing the difference would be by a large amount.
I found this amazing photo signed by the first four woman Supreme Court Justices. The seller actually got it signed in person (so it didn’t go through the “zapper” or get ruined by the screening process at all) and also no third party authentication sticker on photo. It is probably the only one in existence as I had never seen another anywhere else - just that Chambers Card and that was only signed by THREE not FOUR. If someone really wanted to they could send the Chambers Card to Kagan, risk it by having it zapped on the way to her and hoping she signed it or at least returned it which is way too risky in my opinion.
The only down side is the price for this one is - $9000! The seller did offer my a $1000 discount so I could have it for $8000. Nope, too much for me. I could MAYBE do $2500.
UPDATE: This recently sold on eBay. Someone bought it for probably $8000 since the seller offered me a $1000 discount a while back, so my guess is someone went for it at that price. Wow! The other one I found signed on the matte sold for $5000, so if it’s true someone paid $8000 for this one the seller did VERY well.
I finally got an Elena Kagan autograph but I had to buy it. It was pretty reasonable though. Just under $17. I typically see Kagan autographs (letters and photos mostly) overpriced as Buy It Nows for like $35-$65 each. This is a signed trading card but that is totally fine as it looks nice. Now I finally have the three Justices who wrote the dissent in Dobbs.
I was browsing eBay and found these rare handwritten notes from Justice Sotomayor written in 2009-2010. Almost $1000 for the group of three housed in a nice folder which I think is overpriced but still neat. I think the first one might be a printed signature but the other two definitely good.
Just thought this bidding experience I had tonight was kind of interesting.
I was watching a Harry Blackmun signed chambers card (slabbed by PSA) where the bidding started at $24.99. With 6 days to go I decided to throw in a bid in case I forgot about it so I put in a bid of $50. Today the auction ended. With just a few hours before hammer time someone bid it up to $39 where to stayed until literally the last 3 seconds where it jumped to $109. Someone had bid $107 then immediately after $109. So it had two people placing much larger bids than my $50.
In May of 2022, there was a Harry Blackmun signed chambers card on eBay and I remember bidding just over $50 and losing it by just a little (went for like $52.67). This time it looks like it went for twice as much. So not sure if Blackmun has increased in value or if there just happened to be two people willing to go over $100. Also could easily be due to that fact this was only the second chambers card signed by Blackmun that came up for bid (there are one or two overpriced ones for Buy It Now on eBay) in the last year or so.
Just thought I would post these two Ketanji Brown Jackson signed official Supreme Court Photos. These currently appear to be difficult to obtain ttm but some people have gotten them (not me yet).
Looks like someone unknowingly bought the Ketanji Brown Jackson AUTOPEN card yesterday. Not sure what they paid but I assume it was hundreds of dollars. If the buyer decides to send this to third party authentication they may find out it’s autopen then have to deal with the hassle of trying to get a refund.
Interestingly no authentic ones have shown up in a while…just the two pictured in the post above this one. So she’s either very selective (has a method) on what letters she responds to authentically, or they randomly pick a select number of letters to respond authentically and all the rest get the autopen cards. It seems every five to seven months KBJ’s office does a send out of whatever letters they collected at the point in time. I currently got one pending since late November where I specifically requested a signed photo. We shall see if that is the trick or if it results in autopen card.
Of course, now that you bought one you'll probably get a few back from her directly.
And strangely enough that happened just about a week later. The letter she sent me happened to be dated the very day I received the Kagan trading card I purchased. I am actually happier with the letter she sent me than the trading card since the letter is dated 2022 which was the year of the Dobbs decision.
I wanted Kagan for my Dobbs dissent collection. I had made up these Dobbs dissent custom cards and tried to get the three Justices (Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan) to sign them. Only Breyer signed and nothing was returned from the other two. The Kagan success I had only happened because I used an alternate address and requested her own item signed (a Supreme Court photo) which I also got in addition to the letter. I think the trick with Kagan is you need to request an item rather than send your own, and it’s only one per address. So if your first attempt was your own item then you try with a request, it doesn’t seem to work. Not sure if my theory is correct but this seems to be the pattern going by others results/pendings with her in recent years. So trying the dissent card with an entirely new address wouldn’t have worked unfortunately.
I put together my set of Dobbs dissenters recently and the good thing about the signatures is they were all signed in 2022. I wish I could had gotten them all to sign the same card Breyer did but that didn’t happen.
While on the subject of Supreme Court Justices I also put together my set of Supreme Court Justice Firsts. I’m pretty happy with this set.
That happened with me and Henry Kissinger. I tried on and off for years to get any kind of response. I broke down and bought a letter on ebay, and a couple months later I got a letter from him directly.
As for the SC, it's possible that some of the incoming memorabilia gets ruined in the zapping process.
@JBK said:
That happened with me and Henry Kissinger. I tried on and off for years to get any kind of response. I broke down and bought a letter on ebay, and a couple months later I got a letter from him directly.
As for the SC, it's possible that some of the incoming memorabilia gets ruined in the zapping process.
I “like” and “agree” with this.
It is strange though that NONE of my items sent got responses from Kagan so it would be a strange coincidence if ALL got ruined in the zapping process to the point they didn’t get returned. I also sent some of the same things to Breyer at the same time when he was still on the Court and those came back signed but fragile and obviously zapped. I am thinking with Kagan it’s more a security choice and they only show Kagan scan/copies of the letters sent and she responds to those. I think Sotomayor doesn’t even see any of her mail since she’s completely non responsive. So they all have different systems in place I think.
@JMS1223 said:
I am thinking with Kagan it’s more a security choice and they only show Kagan scan/copies of the letters sent and she responds to those. I think Sotomayor doesn’t even see any of her mail since she’s completely non responsive. So they all have different systems in place I think.
There is a good chance that this happens with some people. I would not be surprised if Sotomayor used this process. In her case it might be for health reasons, but for all we know there have been unpublished threats that have curtailed their mail policies.
I did get one of my prescription forms back from Kagan last year. It might have been slightly discolored by the zapper but it was a little buff colored to begin with.
My FDC from Breyer near the end of his term was definitely affected. I should send another one to his Cambridge address.
@JMS1223 said:
I am thinking with Kagan it’s more a security choice and they only show Kagan scan/copies of the letters sent and she responds to those. I think Sotomayor doesn’t even see any of her mail since she’s completely non responsive. So they all have different systems in place I think.
There is a good chance that this happens with some people. I would not be surprised if Sotomayor used this process. In her case it might be for health reasons, but for all we know there have been unpublished threats that have curtailed their mail policies.
I did get one of my prescription forms back from Kagan last year. It might have been slightly discolored by the zapper but it was a little buff colored to begin with.
My FDC from Breyer near the end of his term was definitely affected. I should send another one to his Cambridge address.
Yes, I noticed the mail policies were DEFINITELY curtailed right after the Dobbs leak occurred in early May of last year. I recall your Kagan prescription form arrived right before that leak. So yours made it just in time.
Still a mystery to me as to why my 8x10 photo of the four female Justices sent to Kagan in April never got a response of any kind but your prescription form did. They were sent right around the same time - maybe a week apart. I know mine arrived mid April since it had tracking via Priority Mail. You got your form back late April as I recall. The leak was right after that. The ONLY thing I can think of is Kagan set it aside for Sotomayor to sign then the leak happened and everything in the mail room was either thrown out or just put somewhere else then it got lost/misplaced. Sad because I sent cardboard and large SASE with $5 worth of stamps on it. I knew it was a risk to send but at the time Kagan was signing items sent to her ttm. I also purposely sent it Priority Mail knowing at that time Priority Mail didn’t get zapped. So it cost me $15. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
I got a rejection letter from Justice Alito today. He no longer signs autographs. As a result I did some browsing. I found a few things of interest.
There are two matching autopen Chambers Cards that were authenticated by JSA (stickered) and PSA (slabbed). There are inscribed in a secretary’s hand to two different individuals but have his known autopen signature (I can also spot the typical shakiness).
I also noticed at least five different 8x10 sighed photos (authentic ones) authenticated and stickered but shockingly only sold for around $21-$35 each with bidding starting low to attract bidders. Probably cost more than that to authenticate.
I tried to superimpose the two autopen signatures together of the JSA and PSA authenticated autopens but they must had shaken the pen enough so the first name doesn’t line up with the last name. You can tell it’s the same template but they shake it and tried to move the paper/pen to get it to appear different. On close ups I can see the tall tale signs of autopen.
Also, one is not inscribed (I made a mistake when mentioning it in my previous post saying both were inscribed to different individuals). Very unusual as all the Samuel Alito chamber cards I have ever seen, including autopen, have full name inscriptions with it either being typed, inscribed in secretary’s hand or if authentic, a handwritten inscription.
I was watching an authentic Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed FDC auction that was ending today. The starting bid was $300 and it was scheduled to end tonight. The listing went poof it seems and I can’t find it anywhere. I had it in my watched items and saw it there this morning with zero bids and 23 hours to go. I looked in completed items - nope. Nothing. I wish I could remember the seller because I was interested in it.
I am watching a different FDC but it is a forgery of Ruth Bader Ginsburg starting at $50 and that is still showing in my watched items. So strange.
Saw this nice early Thurgood Marshall signed Chambers Card.
Looks like it was signed in 1968.
I already own his autograph on a Chambers Card and paid $250. This early one is about $175. I don’t need another one but I am wondering if this one would had been better.
I found this interesting. A few weeks ago there was a Byron White signed 6x9 official Supreme Court photo and it was priced at $100. I thought that seemed like too much as I had seen others bring around $10-$15 a few weeks prior.
I noticed this on eBay today in ended items. Yes, it’s only an index card but it ONLY brought $5 (free shipping). It looks legit to me and it’s not personalized so I am thinking that $100 photo was super overpriced.
There has finally been an authentic Ruth Bader Ginsburg offered on eBay that had actual bidding instead of overpriced Buy It Now. The starting bid was $199. It ended up bringing $620. So I guess Ruth Bader Ginsburg autographs are still pretty expensive and in demand. I would think if it was not personalized it would probably bring closer to $1000 if not more. I wonder if RBG autographs will crash someday in a few years and be like $100 or less. Most other Supreme Court Justices including historic ones like Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor are under $200 on most days.
@bronzemat said:
I see her lasting in value for many years to come.
That’s what I am thinking. It doesn’t make sense for the second female Supreme Court Justice to be worth more than the first female Supreme Court Justice (or even the first Supreme Court Justice period…I saw John Jay’s autograph actually brings LESS than RBG’s)
This Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Chambers Card just sold for $739.
Looks like if I continue to be patient and wait a few more years maybe I can get one for much less. It seems these are just starting to decrease in price. I used to see these routinely bid over $1000 (when auctions begin low and allow bidding instead of Buy It Now).
**FINALLY FOUND - My RGB signed covers. ** I sent these in the mail to the Supreme Court in the 1990s, I always offered an extra cover for the signer... in this case both covers were returned plus a Supreme Court Card. Any thoughts on if these are authentic or not? Thanks in advance
@dwills1955 said:
**FINALLY FOUND - My RGB signed covers. ** I sent these in the mail to the Supreme Court in the 1990s, I always offered an extra cover for the signer... in this case both covers were returned plus a Supreme Court Card. Any thoughts on if these are authentic or not? Thanks in advance
Yes, they're real, and JMS1223 hates your guts right about now.
Please find a safe spot to store your $2000+ in RBG memorabilia.
@dwills1955 said:
**FINALLY FOUND - My RGB signed covers. ** I sent these in the mail to the Supreme Court in the 1990s, I always offered an extra cover for the signer... in this case both covers were returned plus a Supreme Court Card. Any thoughts on if these are authentic or not? Thanks in advance
I'm not into Supreme Court autographs, but even I admit that's pretty awesome. Congrats and enjoy!
@dwills1955 said:
**FINALLY FOUND - My RGB signed covers. ** I sent these in the mail to the Supreme Court in the 1990s, I always offered an extra cover for the signer... in this case both covers were returned plus a Supreme Court Card. Any thoughts on if these are authentic or not? Thanks in advance
Here's a 2005 letter from Justice Clarence Thomas with a postscript mentioning Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who would pass away a little over seven months later. (Personal details edited out.)
@JBK said:
Here's a 2005 letter from Justice Clarence Thomas with a postscript mentioning Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who would pass away a little over seven months later. (Personal details edited out.)
Excellent content and handwritten. Couldn’t get any better than that being on his official stationary too!
The one on the letter was sent to a fellow collector several months ago. The one on the photo was just listed on eBay today. I noticed it looked a little shaky so I went back and found the letter example and sure enough they match enough to indicate autopen.
Back in August, I shared (on this thread) scans of my 3 signed pieces from RBG and most of you thought they were authentic. I am considering selling one of them, should it be the First Day Cover or the Chambers card. Also, I would probably sell on Ebay, so should I send it to PSA for authentication? Thanks
Comments
Just superimposed the two signatures and they indeed match.
Found this for sale again on eBay. This time in a frame. Sadly it only sold for $950 this time around instead of the original $1750 it went for ten months ago so the seller took quite a loss.
I don't even like framing job. The writing near the edges is cut off or cramped.
The buyer paid top dollar the first time around. I would have assumed it was a collector.
I agree - not a fan of the frame job. I think it might just be a cheap frame someone picked up for a few dollars and decided to “dress up” the letter and envelope hoping maybe it would enhance it. It does the opposite in my opinion.
I also thought it was purchased by a collector. Or maybe it was and they needed money so they sold it at a loss (like I had done in 2011 with some of the high end autographs I purchased off RRAuction and resold on eBay for like 25%-50% of purchase price).
So this is NOT a one of a kind. I found one other.
This one has much neater signatures but the photo is inside a matte and the matte itself is signed instead of the photo. This one sold for $5000.
I sent one of these photos to Elena Kagan via Priority Mail (to avoid the zapper) but it never came back. I also sent a few gifts to other Supreme Court Justices via Priority Mail and never received any response. Well, I have a new theory. I think maybe perhaps the Supreme Court simply throws away all mail and correspondence that doesn’t get zapped, especially in this day and age with covid and tightened security for Supreme Court Justices. They might make exceptions if sender is someone very important.
The two photos are slightly different poses (look at Kagan).
Do you know when this meeting occurred? I'm wondering if only insiders got a realistic chance to get them.
The signing of the mat is not unheard of but it is very unusual for a collector to get it done that way.
Photo was taken in October of 2010 shortly after Kagan got sworn in. They took several different photos that day including Kagan’s official portrait and many different group photos of the female Justices (O’Connor was retired at this time) as well as a few other combinations where they had two or three of the different females Justices together. They likely also took the group of nine Justices photo that day too or around the same time.
I have seen a few individual Supreme Court Justice photos where they signed on matte (a few of O’Connor and some others like Breyer, Scalia, Stevens come to mind).
SDO'C officially retired from public life due to cognitive issues in 2018, but I believe she had essentially stopped signing a few or several years earlier than that.
Plus, that photo was from long after they started zapping mail.
And, of course, RBG had stopped routinely signing almost 15 years prior.
I think the most recent authentic O’Connor signature I have seen (on a letter) was signed in 2006 or so. Other items definitely could be later but they weren’t dated for me to know for sure. Of course this photo being taken in 2010 would mean it would have to have been signed after that date. I heard she stopped completely (I think no fakes are even sent now) in 2018 or so as well.
This photo/matte definitely could had been signed in person like the other one. I always wondered what it was like to meet a Supreme Court Justice at the Supreme Court. I would had loved to meet RBG when she was there. The last time the Supreme Court Building was open to the public was in early 2020 before the pandemic.
Found an example of a Ruth Bader Ginsburg photo that was signed on the matte. I read (and hope to find/learn more about this) that these matted photos were sold by the official Supreme Court gift shop and signed by the Justices. They had the larger versions (16x20) with all nine Justices signed, various smaller group photos and the individual Justices signed photos. If I am not mistaken they charged like $120 for them sometime during O’Connor’s tenure since that is what an eBay seller told me when they offered me one and told me of how they got it.
I also read a tiny bit about the black and white 6x9 paper photos that the Justices sent ttm predominately between the 1980s and 1990s. They probably sent them for free ttm after numerous requests for signed photos and requesters not wanting to buy the color matted photos. I really want to learn more about these photos but can’t find much information on them. I know of two different RBG poses that she signed. The December 3rd, 1993 pose (most common and same photo as matted one below but in black and white) and 2006 pose. I am curious if the other official RBG poses had 6x9 paper photos made up but are rarely seen due to RBG quitting signing ttm. I noticed Clarence Thomas has two different poses as well, his original one and a later one. Did/do they make new 6x9 paper photos each time they take/took a new individual official portrait of the Justice?
The less commonly seen 2006 pose in 6x9 paper photo form
Found one more example of the 2006 photo signed.
This is the much more common 1993 photo she signed ttm before she officially quit in 2011 (according to my research).
The above slabbed Kagan cut signature makes me very upset for a few reasons.
First, it is $125 plus shipping and tax, so more like $137.
Second, they destroyed a Kagan letter to get this cut.
Third, I don’t care about the slab or authentication.
Fourth, I could had gotten Kagan free ttm a year ago (really mad I didn’t start writing the Justices sooner) but since I only just decided I wanted one earlier this year I have yet to receive a response from her despite a few attempts (still holding out hope I get at least one request back and it’s NOT autopen which I fear she may have started using).
Fifth, this will probably cause others that own Kagan autographs to either up their prices and/or cut their Kagan signed letters and getting the cut slabbed to sell for bigger price. I have already seen this happen with Thomas, cut down index cards (and other items) slabbed and put up for sale for over $100 whereas unslabbed ones routinely sell for $10-$20 range. Also seen it with several other past Justices with slabbed cut signatures. I fear the slabbing business will corner the market and we will no longer be able to find cheap unslabbed ones. I miss the days of buying cheap Supreme Court Justice autographs of ones that we missed ttm. Also less likely to find full letters or personalized ones since it seems they get targeted for cutting.
Found another version of a 6x9 Supreme Court photo Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This was used around 2002.
So now that makes three different poses for official 6x9 Black and White Supreme Court photos RBG sent out over the years. There may be more poses yet to be discovered. If you come across any others I would highly appreciate you posting them here.
I see that the USPS will issue an RBG stamp next year (no date yet).
The USPS sells FDCs for new issues. They don't have cachets, just a stamp and postmark, although the postmarks are sometimes pretty elaborate. Aftermarket sources usually create cachets on FDCs.
These could be good for getting special signatures on, perhaps from other SC justices.
I will definitely want to buy some. There are definitely some people I would try to send them for autographs. Thanks for alerting me. It’s good to know FDCs are just stamp and postmark which means plenty of room for autograph(s) even if postmark is elaborate.
Excited about the opportunities these will give me. Please keep me up to date for when they go on sale.
Was just browsing eBay and to my surprise I found in completed auction two of Sonia Sotomayor’s books signed. Her autobiography My Beloved World signed and NOT-personalized only brought $1.25.
And her children’s book that came out earlier this year brought just over $15 (these sold for $20 at bookstore). So happy I didn’t end up buying that Sotomayor signed letter for $150 Buy It Now earlier this year. Probably not worth much after seeing these. I know letters can sometimes bring more than signed books but I have a hard time believing the difference would be by a large amount.
UPDATE: This recently sold on eBay. Someone bought it for probably $8000 since the seller offered me a $1000 discount a while back, so my guess is someone went for it at that price. Wow! The other one I found signed on the matte sold for $5000, so if it’s true someone paid $8000 for this one the seller did VERY well.
https://ebay.com/itm/224214414976?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=qKS0U3xFRHK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=da4IlHDuTvG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Between ebay fees, paypal and now mostly the IRS, may not be that huge of a profit.
I finally got an Elena Kagan autograph but I had to buy it. It was pretty reasonable though. Just under $17. I typically see Kagan autographs (letters and photos mostly) overpriced as Buy It Nows for like $35-$65 each. This is a signed trading card but that is totally fine as it looks nice. Now I finally have the three Justices who wrote the dissent in Dobbs.
Congratulations!
Nothing wrong with that card, or the price.
Of course, now that you bought one you'll probably get a few back from her directly.
I would be totally happy with that.
I was browsing eBay and found these rare handwritten notes from Justice Sotomayor written in 2009-2010. Almost $1000 for the group of three housed in a nice folder which I think is overpriced but still neat. I think the first one might be a printed signature but the other two definitely good.
Just thought this bidding experience I had tonight was kind of interesting.
I was watching a Harry Blackmun signed chambers card (slabbed by PSA) where the bidding started at $24.99. With 6 days to go I decided to throw in a bid in case I forgot about it so I put in a bid of $50. Today the auction ended. With just a few hours before hammer time someone bid it up to $39 where to stayed until literally the last 3 seconds where it jumped to $109. Someone had bid $107 then immediately after $109. So it had two people placing much larger bids than my $50.
In May of 2022, there was a Harry Blackmun signed chambers card on eBay and I remember bidding just over $50 and losing it by just a little (went for like $52.67). This time it looks like it went for twice as much. So not sure if Blackmun has increased in value or if there just happened to be two people willing to go over $100. Also could easily be due to that fact this was only the second chambers card signed by Blackmun that came up for bid (there are one or two overpriced ones for Buy It Now on eBay) in the last year or so.
Sometimes the bidders just don't show up one week, or multiple ones do show up another week.
I'm not sure which price is more accurate.
Just thought I would post these two Ketanji Brown Jackson signed official Supreme Court Photos. These currently appear to be difficult to obtain ttm but some people have gotten them (not me yet).
Looks like someone unknowingly bought the Ketanji Brown Jackson AUTOPEN card yesterday. Not sure what they paid but I assume it was hundreds of dollars. If the buyer decides to send this to third party authentication they may find out it’s autopen then have to deal with the hassle of trying to get a refund.
Interestingly no authentic ones have shown up in a while…just the two pictured in the post above this one. So she’s either very selective (has a method) on what letters she responds to authentically, or they randomly pick a select number of letters to respond authentically and all the rest get the autopen cards. It seems every five to seven months KBJ’s office does a send out of whatever letters they collected at the point in time. I currently got one pending since late November where I specifically requested a signed photo. We shall see if that is the trick or if it results in autopen card.
https://ebay.com/itm/275690173183?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLH2ld2GSN-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=da4IlHDuTvG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
And strangely enough that happened just about a week later. The letter she sent me happened to be dated the very day I received the Kagan trading card I purchased. I am actually happier with the letter she sent me than the trading card since the letter is dated 2022 which was the year of the Dobbs decision.
I wanted Kagan for my Dobbs dissent collection. I had made up these Dobbs dissent custom cards and tried to get the three Justices (Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan) to sign them. Only Breyer signed and nothing was returned from the other two. The Kagan success I had only happened because I used an alternate address and requested her own item signed (a Supreme Court photo) which I also got in addition to the letter. I think the trick with Kagan is you need to request an item rather than send your own, and it’s only one per address. So if your first attempt was your own item then you try with a request, it doesn’t seem to work. Not sure if my theory is correct but this seems to be the pattern going by others results/pendings with her in recent years. So trying the dissent card with an entirely new address wouldn’t have worked unfortunately.
I put together my set of Dobbs dissenters recently and the good thing about the signatures is they were all signed in 2022. I wish I could had gotten them all to sign the same card Breyer did but that didn’t happen.
While on the subject of Supreme Court Justices I also put together my set of Supreme Court Justice Firsts. I’m pretty happy with this set.
That happened with me and Henry Kissinger. I tried on and off for years to get any kind of response. I broke down and bought a letter on ebay, and a couple months later I got a letter from him directly.
As for the SC, it's possible that some of the incoming memorabilia gets ruined in the zapping process.
I “like” and “agree” with this.
It is strange though that NONE of my items sent got responses from Kagan so it would be a strange coincidence if ALL got ruined in the zapping process to the point they didn’t get returned. I also sent some of the same things to Breyer at the same time when he was still on the Court and those came back signed but fragile and obviously zapped. I am thinking with Kagan it’s more a security choice and they only show Kagan scan/copies of the letters sent and she responds to those. I think Sotomayor doesn’t even see any of her mail since she’s completely non responsive. So they all have different systems in place I think.
There is a good chance that this happens with some people. I would not be surprised if Sotomayor used this process. In her case it might be for health reasons, but for all we know there have been unpublished threats that have curtailed their mail policies.
I did get one of my prescription forms back from Kagan last year. It might have been slightly discolored by the zapper but it was a little buff colored to begin with.
My FDC from Breyer near the end of his term was definitely affected. I should send another one to his Cambridge address.
Yes, I noticed the mail policies were DEFINITELY curtailed right after the Dobbs leak occurred in early May of last year. I recall your Kagan prescription form arrived right before that leak. So yours made it just in time.
Still a mystery to me as to why my 8x10 photo of the four female Justices sent to Kagan in April never got a response of any kind but your prescription form did. They were sent right around the same time - maybe a week apart. I know mine arrived mid April since it had tracking via Priority Mail. You got your form back late April as I recall. The leak was right after that. The ONLY thing I can think of is Kagan set it aside for Sotomayor to sign then the leak happened and everything in the mail room was either thrown out or just put somewhere else then it got lost/misplaced. Sad because I sent cardboard and large SASE with $5 worth of stamps on it. I knew it was a risk to send but at the time Kagan was signing items sent to her ttm. I also purposely sent it Priority Mail knowing at that time Priority Mail didn’t get zapped. So it cost me $15. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
I got a rejection letter from Justice Alito today. He no longer signs autographs. As a result I did some browsing. I found a few things of interest.
There are two matching autopen Chambers Cards that were authenticated by JSA (stickered) and PSA (slabbed). There are inscribed in a secretary’s hand to two different individuals but have his known autopen signature (I can also spot the typical shakiness).
I also noticed at least five different 8x10 sighed photos (authentic ones) authenticated and stickered but shockingly only sold for around $21-$35 each with bidding starting low to attract bidders. Probably cost more than that to authenticate.
I tried to superimpose the two autopen signatures together of the JSA and PSA authenticated autopens but they must had shaken the pen enough so the first name doesn’t line up with the last name. You can tell it’s the same template but they shake it and tried to move the paper/pen to get it to appear different. On close ups I can see the tall tale signs of autopen.
Also, one is not inscribed (I made a mistake when mentioning it in my previous post saying both were inscribed to different individuals). Very unusual as all the Samuel Alito chamber cards I have ever seen, including autopen, have full name inscriptions with it either being typed, inscribed in secretary’s hand or if authentic, a handwritten inscription.
I was watching an authentic Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed FDC auction that was ending today. The starting bid was $300 and it was scheduled to end tonight. The listing went poof it seems and I can’t find it anywhere. I had it in my watched items and saw it there this morning with zero bids and 23 hours to go. I looked in completed items - nope. Nothing. I wish I could remember the seller because I was interested in it.
I am watching a different FDC but it is a forgery of Ruth Bader Ginsburg starting at $50 and that is still showing in my watched items. So strange.
Saw this nice early Thurgood Marshall signed Chambers Card.
Looks like it was signed in 1968.
I already own his autograph on a Chambers Card and paid $250. This early one is about $175. I don’t need another one but I am wondering if this one would had been better.
That's a really nice signature but I think it has some condition issues.
I found this interesting. A few weeks ago there was a Byron White signed 6x9 official Supreme Court photo and it was priced at $100. I thought that seemed like too much as I had seen others bring around $10-$15 a few weeks prior.
I noticed this on eBay today in ended items. Yes, it’s only an index card but it ONLY brought $5 (free shipping). It looks legit to me and it’s not personalized so I am thinking that $100 photo was super overpriced.
There has finally been an authentic Ruth Bader Ginsburg offered on eBay that had actual bidding instead of overpriced Buy It Now. The starting bid was $199. It ended up bringing $620. So I guess Ruth Bader Ginsburg autographs are still pretty expensive and in demand. I would think if it was not personalized it would probably bring closer to $1000 if not more. I wonder if RBG autographs will crash someday in a few years and be like $100 or less. Most other Supreme Court Justices including historic ones like Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor are under $200 on most days.
I see her lasting in value for many years to come.
That’s what I am thinking. It doesn’t make sense for the second female Supreme Court Justice to be worth more than the first female Supreme Court Justice (or even the first Supreme Court Justice period…I saw John Jay’s autograph actually brings LESS than RBG’s)
This Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Chambers Card just sold for $739.
Looks like if I continue to be patient and wait a few more years maybe I can get one for much less. It seems these are just starting to decrease in price. I used to see these routinely bid over $1000 (when auctions begin low and allow bidding instead of Buy It Now).
**FINALLY FOUND - My RGB signed covers. ** I sent these in the mail to the Supreme Court in the 1990s, I always offered an extra cover for the signer... in this case both covers were returned plus a Supreme Court Card. Any thoughts on if these are authentic or not? Thanks in advance
Yes, they're real, and JMS1223 hates your guts right about now.
Please find a safe spot to store your $2000+ in RBG memorabilia.
I'm not into Supreme Court autographs, but even I admit that's pretty awesome. Congrats and enjoy!
I also think all three are authentic. Congrats!
Here's a 2005 letter from Justice Clarence Thomas with a postscript mentioning Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who would pass away a little over seven months later. (Personal details edited out.)
Excellent content and handwritten. Couldn’t get any better than that being on his official stationary too!
Looks like Kagan has an autopen.
The one on the letter was sent to a fellow collector several months ago. The one on the photo was just listed on eBay today. I noticed it looked a little shaky so I went back and found the letter example and sure enough they match enough to indicate autopen.
Someone just listed FIVE (5) Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Chambers Cards on eBay for $3000 EACH BUY IT NOW.
Back in August, I shared (on this thread) scans of my 3 signed pieces from RBG and most of you thought they were authentic. I am considering selling one of them, should it be the First Day Cover or the Chambers card. Also, I would probably sell on Ebay, so should I send it to PSA for authentication? Thanks