@JBK said:
Some years ago someone on Antiques Roadshow had a fantastic content letter that they bought in a folder of letters for almost nothing at a yard sale. I'm holding out for one of those deals.
I ALWAYS hope a similar thing happens to me too. There was someone I met at a show who told me they once bought a “junk” box of miscellaneous stuff for $5 at a flea market and at the bottom of it was a pile of envelopes wrapped in a paper and inside each envelope was a ttm autograph of an 1865 era personality. The highlights of the small ttm 1865 autograph collection include U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee and Sherman. Since it was collected right after Lincoln’s assassination it did not include his autograph but pretty much a who’s who of those famous in 1865-66. It was collected by a 9 year old kid with each autograph on a small calling card inside a small envelope. The envelopes were wrapped in a paper which listed the 20+ signatures collected, the name of the 9 year old collector and dates of when autographs arrived. All famous names. So that was the best find I have heard of a fellow collector finding at a flea market.
@JMS1223 said:
Really kicking myself for not taking advantage of the Martin Luther King Jr. signed program I could have purchased for $1800 five years ago. Seeing that this signed album page was estimated to sell for $2000 and is ALREADY at $3000 with lots of TIME still left…and this one is PERSONALIZED…I can’t imagine what that non-personalized signed program would bring today. He sold it for $5000 but I think it might actually be worth $10,000+ now considering it had a beautiful signature like this, was on a better item and it was not personalized. Really wish I had a picture of the program so you could see what a fool I was for not buying it for $1800.
@JMS1223 said:
Really kicking myself for not taking advantage of the Martin Luther King Jr. signed program I could have purchased for $1800 five years ago. Seeing that this signed album page was estimated to sell for $2000 and is ALREADY at $3000 with lots of TIME still left…and this one is PERSONALIZED…I can’t imagine what that non-personalized signed program would bring today. He sold it for $5000 but I think it might actually be worth $10,000+ now considering it had a beautiful signature like this, was on a better item and it was not personalized. Really wish I had a picture of the program so you could see what a fool I was for not buying it for $1800.
For me my best autograph deal was a signed negro league reunion 8x10 with 74 autographs on it . I think i paid around $90 for it .
Ernest Big Dog Fann , Russell Crazy Legs Patterson , Lonnie Harris , Jaycee Casselbury , Frank Cutie King , Mack Knife Pride , Harold Buster Hair , Ernie Schoolboy Johnson , Ron Teasley , John Mitchell , Ferdinand Rutledge , Tommy Hayes , Ernest Oink Harris , Midget Billy Vaughn , Eloyd Robinson , Phillip Edwards , Gil Black , Clifford Quack Brown , Clifford Dubose , Gerald Caston , Art Simmons , Bob Mitchell , Floyd Humphrey , Eddie Hancock , Enrique Maroto , Pedro Sierra , Charles Coot Willis , Milton Tiddle , Carl Long , Wilmer Reid , MC Johnson , Jumpin Johnny Wilson , Larry Williams , Clark Hardwick , Waymon Armstead , Robert Holivay , Bill Stewart , W. James Cobbin , Charles Whip Davis , Carl Brooks , Oscar Walker , Birmingham Sam Brison , Louis Clarizio , Levi Washington , Eugene Goon Golden , Roland Tooson , Al Burrows , William Lefty Bell , Hank Presswood , Otha Lil Catch Bailey , Ron Smith , William Hayden , Gerald Sizon , David Pearson , Ezell King , Hal Jones , Roberto Herrera , Henry Hill , Moses Herring , Porter Reed , Joe Elliott , Paul Jones , Ray Haggins , Charles Wells , James Beady Bland , Willie Walker , Walter Owens , A.J. Jackson , Hank Pistol Mason , Al Barks , Eddie Banks , J.C. Hartman , Luther Atkinson , Grady Lowe.
@voxels123 said:
I don't recall what I paid. I want to say $550? But it's one of my favorite cards, which makes it a great deal! It won't ever be sold when I'm alive/
The label says "no name on front" - was that an error version of the card?
@voxels123 said:
I don't recall what I paid. I want to say $550? But it's one of my favorite cards, which makes it a great deal! It won't ever be sold when I'm alive/
The label says "no name on front" - was that an error version of the card?
Quite the opposite of a deal but this is unbelievable.
Paul McCartney released a very limited signed edition of his The Lyrics book (only 175 signed and numbered copies). Retail was just a little over $2000 (with taxes it’s close to $2100).
A lucky fan bought this book intending to keep it for themselves but when they saw how much another one sold for they figured if they can get the Buy It Now price they would be willing to sell. Well guess what? They got the Buy It Now price. How much? $18,000!!!
Buyer removed signature from book, sent it to be authenticated and encapsulated- resold for $695.
Ouch! That book is a shame, but with markups like that I suppose it is going to happen.
That might actually be a way in for you. I saw on another website that in her last several years when people wrote for an autograph they'd get a rejection letter and a suggestion that they buy her signed book from her foundation's website.
Instead of making a new thread, what are your thoughts on people and these companies "cutting" documents, letters, book pages, and so on just to have them carded/graded?
I think it's a shame. I have seen presidential papers written by the president just to be destroyed and the signature only being cut out and thrown into a trading cardholder.
Buyer removed signature from book, sent it to be authenticated and encapsulated- resold for $695.
Ouch! That book is a shame, but with markups like that I suppose it is going to happen.
That might actually be a way in for you. I saw on another website that in her last several years when people wrote for an autograph they'd get a rejection letter and a suggestion that they buy her signed book from her foundation's website.
Unfortunately that was the only signed book at that price. The next cheapest was $360 (already sold) but it was personalized. The cheapest one currently available is $660.
@bronzemat said:
Instead of making a new thread, what are your thoughts on people and these companies "cutting" documents, letters, book pages, and so on just to have them carded/graded?
I think it's a shame. I have seen presidential papers written by the president just to be destroyed and the signature only being cut out and thrown into a trading cardholder.
Yeah, I have seen that on eBay. I will recognize the letter that was originally on RRAuction then a year or so later see pieces of it in those trading cards for sale on eBay. Even high end card companies will buy up historical documents, cut them up, and insert them into those trading cards. Anything to make a buck.
One example I remember was a damaged Abraham Lincoln handwritten letter. It was already missing part of the letter, so I am thinking whoever bought it felt that since it was already ruined, they could cut up individual words and sell them separately on eBay, and then sell just the signature for the same price they paid for the whole letter. Each word sold for between $100-$200 and the signature went for like $4000-$5000. They purchased the whole letter (damaged) for about $4500. I believe there were about 100-150 different words…so that would be about $10,000-$15,000 just for the words sold, and then $4000-$5000 for the signature on top of that. Quite a profit.
It’s a gamble but if that is real they got the deal of the century. Very hard to tell from seller photos if that is a photocopy of an original document that they are passing off with old documentation saying there was restoration done to a Lincoln document (which could had come from something else entirely or is referring to this, but this is a photocopy of that said document). Hmm
@bronzemat said:
Instead of making a new thread, what are your thoughts on people and these companies "cutting" documents, letters, book pages, and so on just to have them carded/graded?
I think it's a shame. I have seen presidential papers written by the president just to be destroyed and the signature only being cut out and thrown into a trading cardholder.
Yes, it is very disturbing to see historical documents, or their parts, cut up and sold off or repackaged.
The marketplace seems to accept this in many instances, which is unfortunate. A century or more ago it was common practice to cut signatures from presidential documents. (In some cases they may have been unissued docs, as sometimes they would pre-sign quantities of routine documents).
Years ago I was looking for an actual letter from Mother Teresa. I had several signed prayer slips and routine typed notes that she normally sent out, but I wanted an actual letter.
I wrote to her Missionaries of Charity branch in California and asked if they had a letter they could spare. They actually sent me a signature clipped from a letter. I was happy to have it, but I always wondered what was lost with the rest of the letter being discarded.
Okay that worked. Literally took me an hour to post that. I don’t know WHY it refused to post. I retyped it and even went on a different device and typed it there and no go. Must be a certain word or combination of words that make it go poof.
@JMS1223 said:
Okay that worked. Literally took me an hour to post that. I don’t know WHY it refused to post. I retyped it and even went on a different device and typed it there and no go. Must be a certain word or combination of words that make it go poof.
Over on the coin forum there have been some bugs when people edit posts, for example, and the posts (or entire threads, if that was the first post) disappear.
It’s a gamble but if that is real they got the deal of the century. Very hard to tell from seller photos if that is a photocopy of an original document that they are passing off with old documentation saying there was restoration done to a Lincoln document (which could had come from something else entirely or is referring to this, but this is a photocopy of that said document). Hmm
Horrendous listing - description and photos.
From what I could see of the document I am not sure it's not a secretarial.
Plus, something was weird about the bid history - says they first bid almost two months ago.
@JMS1223 said:
Okay that worked. Literally took me an hour to post that. I don’t know WHY it refused to post. I retyped it and even went on a different device and typed it there and no go. Must be a certain word or combination of words that make it go poof.
Over on the coin forum there have been some bugs when people edit posts, for example, and the posts (or entire threads, if that was the first post) disappear.
I think I figured out what it is. I think certain words or combination of words in a single post are flagged and go poof no matter what. Maybe it thought it was spam or something. I just hope I don’t get banned for trying to post that reply like 100 different times/ways.
Wow! My curiousness got to me so I researched Mother Teresa prices and I am SHOCKED! The more common signed typed slips she was known to sign sell for about $1500 while a typed signed letter sold for $1300. A signed 8x10 photo brought $2300! I did not think she was this expensive. I remember you could buy the signed slips for $400 routinely years ago. Now I wonder what that handwritten letter would be worth.
I didn't realize they were bringing that much, either.
I learned years ago that "real" letters from her are far scarcer than the printed prayers or the typed generic letters that were usually sent out. I did get one letter that was not the ordinary sort of response.
Along the way I also sent her a small check or two to cover postage for requests and I eventually got those back in my monthly bank statements, endorsed by her on the back.
So, I can say I've corresponded with an actual Saint.
@JBK said:
I didn't realize they were bringing that much, either.
I learned years ago that "real" letters from her are far scarcer than the printed prayers or the typed generic letters that were usually sent out. I did get one letter that was not the ordinary sort of response.
Along the way I also sent her a small check or two to cover postage for requests and I eventually got those back in my monthly bank statements, endorsed by her on the back.
So, I can say I've corresponded with an actual Saint.
Wow! If I am doing my math right, you probably got like $10K worth of stuff there. Congrats!
I will definitely be keeping an eye out in case I see that Mother Teresa handwritten letter again next time I attend that show…but that was like five years ago so I bet it sold the same day I saw it.
This post is a bit premature but I am keeping my fingers crossed on an Ebay purchase from today.
It was about 31 letters from mostly politicians from 1976 or so, with a few from the early 80s. One that was pictured was from Chief Justice Warren Burger. It looked like it might be real and I don't already have one from him. The rest are governors, senators, and members of Congress. I paid around $40 after ebay bucks I had to spend.
Then, the seller messaged me that she had another 50 or so letters that I could have for another $40 to be shipped with the first group.
I figure I was good on the first lot but the second lot is a real gamble. Apparently the original recipient had a binder with special letters that were sold off several years ago. But, with Warren Burger in the unbindered pile maybe he had a few other nice ones that he did not consider particularly special at the time.
@JBK said:
This post is a bit premature but I am keeping my fingers crossed on an Ebay purchase from today.
It was about 31 letters from mostly politicians from 1976 or so, with a few from the early 80s. One that was pictured was from Chief Justice Warren Burger. It looked like it might be real and I don't already have one from him. The rest are governors, senators, and members of Congress. I paid around $40 after ebay bucks I had to spend.
Then, the seller messaged me that she had another 50 or so letters that I could have for another $40 to be shipped with the first group.
I figure I was good on the first lot but the second lot is a real gamble. Apparently the original recipient had a binder with special letters that were sold off several years ago. But, with Warren Burger in the unbindered pile maybe he had a few other nice ones that he did not consider particularly special at the time.
Ohhh I can’t wait to hear who the others in the lot are. Perhaps an old Joe Biden letter among the senators?
@JBK said:
This post is a bit premature but I am keeping my fingers crossed on an Ebay purchase from today.
It was about 31 letters from mostly politicians from 1976 or so, with a few from the early 80s. One that was pictured was from Chief Justice Warren Burger. It looked like it might be real and I don't already have one from him. The rest are governors, senators, and members of Congress. I paid around $40 after ebay bucks I had to spend.
Then, the seller messaged me that she had another 50 or so letters that I could have for another $40 to be shipped with the first group.
I figure I was good on the first lot but the second lot is a real gamble. Apparently the original recipient had a binder with special letters that were sold off several years ago. But, with Warren Burger in the unbindered pile maybe he had a few other nice ones that he did not consider particularly special at the time.
Ohhh I can’t wait to hear who the others in the lot are. Perhaps an old Joe Biden letter among the senators?
I was hoping, but I think the letters are too old. But maybe not...
@JBK said:
This post is a bit premature but I am keeping my fingers crossed on an Ebay purchase from today.
It was about 31 letters from mostly politicians from 1976 or so, with a few from the early 80s. One that was pictured was from Chief Justice Warren Burger. It looked like it might be real and I don't already have one from him. The rest are governors, senators, and members of Congress. I paid around $40 after ebay bucks I had to spend.
Then, the seller messaged me that she had another 50 or so letters that I could have for another $40 to be shipped with the first group.
I figure I was good on the first lot but the second lot is a real gamble. Apparently the original recipient had a binder with special letters that were sold off several years ago. But, with Warren Burger in the unbindered pile maybe he had a few other nice ones that he did not consider particularly special at the time.
Ohhh I can’t wait to hear who the others in the lot are. Perhaps an old Joe Biden letter among the senators?
I was hoping, but I think the letters are too old. But maybe not...
Has anyone here ever been in the process of almost closing a deal and the person you were buying/trading from abruptly stopped all communication on the last leg of the deal?
Well I just had that happen. Total communication shut down after seller/trader said they would go to post office next day and tell me shipping costs and I would send payment. After next day came and went, no communication whatsoever. That was almost two weeks ago. Guessing person either changed their mind, or something happened to them that caused them to stop answering messages for at least two weeks. Good news is I am not out any money, but we did have an agreement. I was getting a fairly good deal (nothing great, but definitely better than eBay prices). I don’t want to reveal who or what the deal was in the event the seller/trader had a misfortune and they end up making good on the deal. I don’t want to drag their name in the mud. They seemed like a decent person and we talked quite a bit while working on the deal so I am hoping things work out and there was just a mishap. Just very strange no communication whatsoever in almost two weeks.
Never happened to me (yet) aside from one ebayer years ago who never sent an item. It was back before PayPal do you had to send checks, but he never cashed mine, so I wasn't out anything. A few others were left in the same situation based on his feedback.
In this COVID era I'm always a little worried when someone goes silent.
@JBK said:
Never happened to me (yet) aside from one ebayer years ago who never sent an item. It was back before PayPal do you had to send checks, but he never cashed mine, so I wasn't out anything. A few others were left in the same situation based on his feedback.
In this COVID era I'm always a little worried when someone goes silent.
I had that same situation happen to me on eBay in January 2020 before COVID hit. I bought a $10 item and seller never shipped. I had to file a claim and I got my money back. It was the only time I ever experienced that on eBay.
I was thinking maybe the current situation might be affected by COVID. So if that’s the case maybe I will hear something in a few weeks…hmm
Something that sometimes happens on eBay is finding a rare expensive autograph that looks very much authentic and seller starts it at a low opening bid to attract bidders. When auction stays at the low bid for days you start to second guess yourself and think it might be fake because no one else seems to be bidding/watching. However you know some sellers don’t collect/deal primarily autographs so stuff might go cheap. It’s a gamble.
Well this very thing just happened to me. I found a potential “steal.” I watched it and it didn’t move for days so I placed my first bid ten hours before it was scheduled to end. I do a small bid. I am the high bidder for hours. Then I get outbid by a small amount so I bid again by a little more than current bid and I am again the high bidder. I get outbid again sometime later. Finally I decided not to bid again right away and save my final “max” bid for the last ten seconds of auction seeing that this one other bidder didn’t appear to be a sniper and only bids a little over my bids. So I place my max bid and I am the high bidder until a third bidder who is a sniper came in and got it. No idea how high their high bid was…probably close to market value BUT the final bid they got it for is an absolute steal IF this turns out to be the real deal!
I am still surprised it didn’t go for more, because it seems whenever I find those low starting bid autographs they always go for market value in the end because there are almost always more than three bidders competing for it. I did my final bid at an amount I thought would be a steal but wouldn’t be the end of the world if it turned out a good forgery. It was in between absolute steal and way too much to spend on a fake.
In this COVID era I'm always a little worried when someone goes silent.
Just checked this person’s activity on another site (they are NOT a member here as far as I know) where they frequented and last activity was January 10th - same day as my last email communication with them. So something scary or bad happened to them I am afraid.
I went through them all. It was a great variety of letterheads, envelopes, etc. Mostly real signatures, mainly from governors from the mid 1970s and some from the 1980s.
A few senators and congressmen.
Some of the biggest names were California governor Jerry Brown, and controversial but historical George Wallace (three from him).
While making my way through the letters I opened one up and was blindsided by a familiar name:
I am cautiously optimistic that it is real.
Without the Bill Clinton letter the cost of the letters is sort of covered by the Chief Justice Warren Burger and the Gov. George Wallace letters. With the Clinton letter (if real) I'd say it was a very good deal.
@JMS1223 said:
I was browsing eBay and noticed two Rosa Parks autographs that were purchased, then resold after being authenticated.
And then there was the 3x4 newspaper photo of her and Jane Fonda that originally sold for $150 and resold (nothing changed) for $175.
Well that same newspaper photo is back on eBay, now encapsulated for $2500 Buy It Now so it went from $150 (when it originally sold and I actually placed a $100 bid on it) to $175 (resold without changes) to $2500 (now encapsulated)! Definitely not worth that much as you can get a much nicer Rosa Parks for under $1000. Plus this is on acidic paper so it will probably turn brown in a few more decades.
I see it often, there was an autographed photo of old Hollywood actress, Leila Hyams I saw listed for $75, which I would have bought but another ebay seller bought it quickly and days later it was added by the new buyer for $400. It languished for a few months before someone bought it.
Luckily I found out it was secretary signed & I acquired a real one just on an album page for $50.
But still, it's annoying seeing things get relisted at astronomical markups.
And a real 8x10 signed photo of her shouldn't be more than $150 depending on conditions. She's pretty forgotten like many.
Comments
I ALWAYS hope a similar thing happens to me too. There was someone I met at a show who told me they once bought a “junk” box of miscellaneous stuff for $5 at a flea market and at the bottom of it was a pile of envelopes wrapped in a paper and inside each envelope was a ttm autograph of an 1865 era personality. The highlights of the small ttm 1865 autograph collection include U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee and Sherman. Since it was collected right after Lincoln’s assassination it did not include his autograph but pretty much a who’s who of those famous in 1865-66. It was collected by a 9 year old kid with each autograph on a small calling card inside a small envelope. The envelopes were wrapped in a paper which listed the 20+ signatures collected, the name of the 9 year old collector and dates of when autographs arrived. All famous names. So that was the best find I have heard of a fellow collector finding at a flea market.
This just ended and it brought $6,646.25!
I wonder if the high bidder's name was Chuck.
For me my best autograph deal was a signed negro league reunion 8x10 with 74 autographs on it . I think i paid around $90 for it .
Ernest Big Dog Fann , Russell Crazy Legs Patterson , Lonnie Harris , Jaycee Casselbury , Frank Cutie King , Mack Knife Pride , Harold Buster Hair , Ernie Schoolboy Johnson , Ron Teasley , John Mitchell , Ferdinand Rutledge , Tommy Hayes , Ernest Oink Harris , Midget Billy Vaughn , Eloyd Robinson , Phillip Edwards , Gil Black , Clifford Quack Brown , Clifford Dubose , Gerald Caston , Art Simmons , Bob Mitchell , Floyd Humphrey , Eddie Hancock , Enrique Maroto , Pedro Sierra , Charles Coot Willis , Milton Tiddle , Carl Long , Wilmer Reid , MC Johnson , Jumpin Johnny Wilson , Larry Williams , Clark Hardwick , Waymon Armstead , Robert Holivay , Bill Stewart , W. James Cobbin , Charles Whip Davis , Carl Brooks , Oscar Walker , Birmingham Sam Brison , Louis Clarizio , Levi Washington , Eugene Goon Golden , Roland Tooson , Al Burrows , William Lefty Bell , Hank Presswood , Otha Lil Catch Bailey , Ron Smith , William Hayden , Gerald Sizon , David Pearson , Ezell King , Hal Jones , Roberto Herrera , Henry Hill , Moses Herring , Porter Reed , Joe Elliott , Paul Jones , Ray Haggins , Charles Wells , James Beady Bland , Willie Walker , Walter Owens , A.J. Jackson , Hank Pistol Mason , Al Barks , Eddie Banks , J.C. Hartman , Luther Atkinson , Grady Lowe.
Wow! That's a lot of signatures!
Thanks.. toughest for me were these ones.. have 4 of the doctors at the moment . trying to get some of the others next .
one of my best deals.
How about some details.
I don't recall what I paid. I want to say $550? But it's one of my favorite cards, which makes it a great deal! It won't ever be sold when I'm alive/
The label says "no name on front" - was that an error version of the card?
Kind of off topic but I was just looking at my now growing autograph collection and realized I have spent over $1500 on it just this year alone! Ouch!
But no doubt some good stuff!
yes, it's a fairly rare error of this RC
Quite the opposite of a deal but this is unbelievable.
Paul McCartney released a very limited signed edition of his The Lyrics book (only 175 signed and numbered copies). Retail was just a little over $2000 (with taxes it’s close to $2100).
A lucky fan bought this book intending to keep it for themselves but when they saw how much another one sold for they figured if they can get the Buy It Now price they would be willing to sell. Well guess what? They got the Buy It Now price. How much? $18,000!!!
https://ebay.com/itm/SIGNED-Paul-McCartney-THE-LYRICS-1956-to-Present-76-of-only-175-RARE-/203727592163?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0
That's a great one to have.
I was browsing eBay and noticed two Rosa Parks autographs that were purchased, then resold after being authenticated.
Original listing: signed book brought $270.
Buyer removed signature from book, sent it to be authenticated and encapsulated- resold for $695
Original listing: signed 8x10 sold for $470
Buyer got authenticated and is currently listed at $4999.99
And then there was the 3x4 newspaper photo of her and Jane Fonda that originally sold for $150 and resold (nothing changed) for $175.
Too bad PSA has to place that effin' sticker on the front of the photo.
What are future generations of collectors going to think of this era of stickering everything.
Rosa Parks will be an historic icon decades and centuries after these sticker-happy people are long gone.
Ouch! That book is a shame, but with markups like that I suppose it is going to happen.
That might actually be a way in for you. I saw on another website that in her last several years when people wrote for an autograph they'd get a rejection letter and a suggestion that they buy her signed book from her foundation's website.
Instead of making a new thread, what are your thoughts on people and these companies "cutting" documents, letters, book pages, and so on just to have them carded/graded?
I think it's a shame. I have seen presidential papers written by the president just to be destroyed and the signature only being cut out and thrown into a trading cardholder.
Unfortunately that was the only signed book at that price. The next cheapest was $360 (already sold) but it was personalized. The cheapest one currently available is $660.
Yeah, I have seen that on eBay. I will recognize the letter that was originally on RRAuction then a year or so later see pieces of it in those trading cards for sale on eBay. Even high end card companies will buy up historical documents, cut them up, and insert them into those trading cards. Anything to make a buck.
One example I remember was a damaged Abraham Lincoln handwritten letter. It was already missing part of the letter, so I am thinking whoever bought it felt that since it was already ruined, they could cut up individual words and sell them separately on eBay, and then sell just the signature for the same price they paid for the whole letter. Each word sold for between $100-$200 and the signature went for like $4000-$5000. They purchased the whole letter (damaged) for about $4500. I believe there were about 100-150 different words…so that would be about $10,000-$15,000 just for the words sold, and then $4000-$5000 for the signature on top of that. Quite a profit.
I was just browsing eBay looking at sold Abraham Lincoln autographs and found this:
https://ebay.com/itm/abraham-lincoln-signed-/294542893786?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0
It’s a gamble but if that is real they got the deal of the century. Very hard to tell from seller photos if that is a photocopy of an original document that they are passing off with old documentation saying there was restoration done to a Lincoln document (which could had come from something else entirely or is referring to this, but this is a photocopy of that said document). Hmm
Yes, it is very disturbing to see historical documents, or their parts, cut up and sold off or repackaged.
The marketplace seems to accept this in many instances, which is unfortunate. A century or more ago it was common practice to cut signatures from presidential documents. (In some cases they may have been unissued docs, as sometimes they would pre-sign quantities of routine documents).
Years ago I was looking for an actual letter from Mother Teresa. I had several signed prayer slips and routine typed notes that she normally sent out, but I wanted an actual letter.
I wrote to her Missionaries of Charity branch in California and asked if they had a letter they could spare. They actually sent me a signature clipped from a letter. I was happy to have it, but I always wondered what was lost with the rest of the letter being discarded.
Okay that worked. Literally took me an hour to post that. I don’t know WHY it refused to post. I retyped it and even went on a different device and typed it there and no go. Must be a certain word or combination of words that make it go poof.
That was definitely a great price!
Over on the coin forum there have been some bugs when people edit posts, for example, and the posts (or entire threads, if that was the first post) disappear.
Horrendous listing - description and photos.
From what I could see of the document I am not sure it's not a secretarial.
Plus, something was weird about the bid history - says they first bid almost two months ago.
. > @JBK said:
I think I figured out what it is. I think certain words or combination of words in a single post are flagged and go poof no matter what. Maybe it thought it was spam or something. I just hope I don’t get banned for trying to post that reply like 100 different times/ways.
Wow! My curiousness got to me so I researched Mother Teresa prices and I am SHOCKED! The more common signed typed slips she was known to sign sell for about $1500 while a typed signed letter sold for $1300. A signed 8x10 photo brought $2300!
I did not think she was this expensive. I remember you could buy the signed slips for $400 routinely years ago. Now I wonder what that handwritten letter would be worth.
I didn't realize they were bringing that much, either.
I learned years ago that "real" letters from her are far scarcer than the printed prayers or the typed generic letters that were usually sent out. I did get one letter that was not the ordinary sort of response.
Along the way I also sent her a small check or two to cover postage for requests and I eventually got those back in my monthly bank statements, endorsed by her on the back.
So, I can say I've corresponded with an actual Saint.
Wow!
If I am doing my math right, you probably got like $10K worth of stuff there. Congrats!
I will definitely be keeping an eye out in case I see that Mother Teresa handwritten letter again next time I attend that show…but that was like five years ago so I bet it sold the same day I saw it.
This post is a bit premature but I am keeping my fingers crossed on an Ebay purchase from today.
It was about 31 letters from mostly politicians from 1976 or so, with a few from the early 80s. One that was pictured was from Chief Justice Warren Burger. It looked like it might be real and I don't already have one from him. The rest are governors, senators, and members of Congress. I paid around $40 after ebay bucks I had to spend.
Then, the seller messaged me that she had another 50 or so letters that I could have for another $40 to be shipped with the first group.
I figure I was good on the first lot but the second lot is a real gamble. Apparently the original recipient had a binder with special letters that were sold off several years ago. But, with Warren Burger in the unbindered pile maybe he had a few other nice ones that he did not consider particularly special at the time.
Ohhh I can’t wait to hear who the others in the lot are. Perhaps an old Joe Biden letter among the senators?
I was hoping, but I think the letters are too old. But maybe not...
Fingers crossed! 🤞
Has anyone here ever been in the process of almost closing a deal and the person you were buying/trading from abruptly stopped all communication on the last leg of the deal?
Well I just had that happen. Total communication shut down after seller/trader said they would go to post office next day and tell me shipping costs and I would send payment. After next day came and went, no communication whatsoever. That was almost two weeks ago. Guessing person either changed their mind, or something happened to them that caused them to stop answering messages for at least two weeks. Good news is I am not out any money, but we did have an agreement. I was getting a fairly good deal (nothing great, but definitely better than eBay prices). I don’t want to reveal who or what the deal was in the event the seller/trader had a misfortune and they end up making good on the deal. I don’t want to drag their name in the mud. They seemed like a decent person and we talked quite a bit while working on the deal so I am hoping things work out and there was just a mishap. Just very strange no communication whatsoever in almost two weeks.
Never happened to me (yet) aside from one ebayer years ago who never sent an item. It was back before PayPal do you had to send checks, but he never cashed mine, so I wasn't out anything. A few others were left in the same situation based on his feedback.
In this COVID era I'm always a little worried when someone goes silent.
I had that same situation happen to me on eBay in January 2020 before COVID hit. I bought a $10 item and seller never shipped. I had to file a claim and I got my money back. It was the only time I ever experienced that on eBay.
I was thinking maybe the current situation might be affected by COVID. So if that’s the case maybe I will hear something in a few weeks…hmm
Something that sometimes happens on eBay is finding a rare expensive autograph that looks very much authentic and seller starts it at a low opening bid to attract bidders. When auction stays at the low bid for days you start to second guess yourself and think it might be fake because no one else seems to be bidding/watching. However you know some sellers don’t collect/deal primarily autographs so stuff might go cheap. It’s a gamble.
Well this very thing just happened to me. I found a potential “steal.” I watched it and it didn’t move for days so I placed my first bid ten hours before it was scheduled to end. I do a small bid. I am the high bidder for hours. Then I get outbid by a small amount so I bid again by a little more than current bid and I am again the high bidder. I get outbid again sometime later. Finally I decided not to bid again right away and save my final “max” bid for the last ten seconds of auction seeing that this one other bidder didn’t appear to be a sniper and only bids a little over my bids. So I place my max bid and I am the high bidder until a third bidder who is a sniper came in and got it. No idea how high their high bid was…probably close to market value BUT the final bid they got it for is an absolute steal IF this turns out to be the real deal!
I am still surprised it didn’t go for more, because it seems whenever I find those low starting bid autographs they always go for market value in the end because there are almost always more than three bidders competing for it. I did my final bid at an amount I thought would be a steal but wouldn’t be the end of the world if it turned out a good forgery. It was in between absolute steal and way too much to spend on a fake.
Just checked this person’s activity on another site (they are NOT a member here as far as I know) where they frequented and last activity was January 10th - same day as my last email communication with them. So something scary or bad happened to them I am afraid.
What was the outcome of the mystery letters?
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
I went through them all. It was a great variety of letterheads, envelopes, etc. Mostly real signatures, mainly from governors from the mid 1970s and some from the 1980s.
A few senators and congressmen.
Some of the biggest names were California governor Jerry Brown, and controversial but historical George Wallace (three from him).
While making my way through the letters I opened one up and was blindsided by a familiar name:
I am cautiously optimistic that it is real.
Without the Bill Clinton letter the cost of the letters is sort of covered by the Chief Justice Warren Burger and the Gov. George Wallace letters. With the Clinton letter (if real) I'd say it was a very good deal.
Very cool.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
Well that same newspaper photo is back on eBay, now encapsulated for $2500 Buy It Now
so it went from $150 (when it originally sold and I actually placed a $100 bid on it) to $175 (resold without changes) to $2500 (now encapsulated)! Definitely not worth that much as you can get a much nicer Rosa Parks for under $1000. Plus this is on acidic paper so it will probably turn brown in a few more decades.
It's amazing to watch this stuff as it "progresses" through the market.
I see it often, there was an autographed photo of old Hollywood actress, Leila Hyams I saw listed for $75, which I would have bought but another ebay seller bought it quickly and days later it was added by the new buyer for $400. It languished for a few months before someone bought it.
Luckily I found out it was secretary signed & I acquired a real one just on an album page for $50.
But still, it's annoying seeing things get relisted at astronomical markups.
And a real 8x10 signed photo of her shouldn't be more than $150 depending on conditions. She's pretty forgotten like many.