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1963 Beatles Autographs

Value (2013) | $3,000 Auction – $5,000 Auction
Watch  

APPRAISER:
So where were you August in 1963?

GUEST:
My family was in Bournemouth, England, and we were lucky enough to be staying in the same hotel as the Beatles. I was five years old at the time, and they thought I was cute and had a nice Canadian accent, so they were always joking and laughing and teasing me. But we didn't know who they were, because they weren't famous in North America yet. We just thought they were nice guys. We did know they were famous in Europe, because the hotel was always mobbed. There was fans out front all the time. But we certainly didn't know they would become the phenomenon that they did. So the morning we were leaving, at breakfast I went over and asked them for their autograph. Ringo wouldn't give me his autograph unless I gave him a kiss.

APPRAISER:
Oh, my gosh!

GUEST:
But unfortunately Paul McCartney was not there that morning, so I only have three out of the four.

APPRAISER:
Well, that's a pretty good story. And we can see we have a great John Lennon autograph here, really strong and bold, this wonderful George Harrison, and then the Ringo has these two little kisses after it, so he gave you some kisses back, which is really nice. We have these signatures, but who wrote "The Beatles" on this?

GUEST:
That was my mother that wrote that. And you can see in the corner where she had to make sure the pen worked.

APPRAISER:
What's so wonderful about Beatles signatures is the story. When you get this signed directly, you should put that story down on paper and put it on the back because there are so many Beatles signatures that are wrong.

GUEST:
We had a fire in our home, and it actually went through the fire and survived. We lost almost everything, so it was very lucky that that survived.

APPRAISER:
In an auction setting, we would put a value on this of $3,000 to $5,000.

GUEST:
Oh, wow. There has been a group with all four signatures from this year that sold for over $10,000.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Kathleen Guzman
Collectibles
Heritage Auctions
New York, NY
Update (2013)
$3,000 Auction – $5,000 Auction
Appraised value (2011)
$3,000 Auction – $5,000 Auction
Featured In
Survivors (#1719)
Event
Atlanta, GA (August 06, 2011)
Category
Collectibles
Period
20th Century
Form
Autograph
Material
Paper
November 18, 2013: We contacted appraiser Kathleen Guzman for an updated appraisal in today's market.

Current Appraised Value: $3,000 - $5,000 (Unchanged)

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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