Signatures, letters, documents and manuscripts of known people.
An autograph connects you with a person: a signature on a photograph, a letter in their own hand, a
manuscript page with their corrections. Because signatures are easy to forge, authentication and
provenance are what make an autograph collectable.
Getting Started
Collectors choose a field - presidents and statesmen, scientists, writers, composers, explorers,
sports or film stars - and often a format, such as signed photographs or letters. Letters with
interesting content are worth much more than a bare signature.
What to Record
Who signed or wrote it, and the date and place.
Type, using the dealers’ abbreviations:
ALS: autograph letter signed, written and signed by hand;
TLS: typed letter signed;
DS: document signed;
SP: signed photograph;
and “signature” for a signature alone, such as on an album page or a card.
Content: a summary of what the letter or document says, and whom it is addressed to.
Size and number of pages.
Authentication: the authenticator (such as PSA/DNA, JSA or Beckett for sports and
entertainment, or a specialist dealer’s guarantee), the certificate number and date.
Provenance: how the piece reached you - obtained in person, from the recipient’s family, at an
auction - with documents.
Condition
Note folds, tears, fading of the ink, stains, tape marks and trimming. Faded signatures can lose most
of their value, so light protection matters.
Care and Storage
Store autographs in acid-free folders, flat and in the dark. Frame them with UV-filtering glass and
acid-free mounts, and never fix them to a mount with tape. Keep photographs away from heat and
humidity.
Mistakes to Avoid
Trusting a certificate from an unknown issuer.
Buying secretarial signatures, autopen signatures or printed facsimiles as hand-signed.
Displaying a signed item in sunlight until the ink fades.
The Data Sheet for Autographs & Manuscripts
The 24 fields worth recording for autographs & manuscripts, grouped as in the
ordicio app.
Identification
Signer Text
Person who signed or wrote the item.
Field Choice, or your own
Field the signer is known for.
11 choices
History & politics
Science & medicine
Literature
Music
Art
Film & theatre
Sports
Military
Exploration & aviation
Religion
Business
Autograph type Choice, or your own
Kind of autograph in the dealers' terms.
Autograph letter signed (ALS)
Typed letter signed (TLS)
Document signed (DS)
Signed photograph (SP)
Signed book
Album page / cut signature
Autograph manuscript
Signed object
Date signed Text
Date of the signature or document as written or established.
Dedication Text
Dedication or text written with the signature.
Content Text
Summary of the text, with the recipient for letters.
Authentication
Authentication Choice, or your own
Who authenticated the signature; another expert by name.
PSA/DNA
JSA
Beckett (BAS)
ACOA
Signed in person (own witness)
None
Certification number Text
Number on the grading holder (slab) or authentication certificate, to look it up in the service's database.
Physical description
Materials Text
Materials the object is made of, main material first.
Height (cm) Number
Height, measured upright as the object is meant to stand or hang.
Width (cm) Number
Width, measured from the front.
Condition
Condition Choice
Overall condition in plain terms; domains with an established grading scale use that scale instead.
Mint / as new
Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
Condition notes Text
Faults, wear and damage in detail.
Acquisition
How and when the object came into the collection.
Acquisition date Date
Date the object came into the collection.
Acquisition method Choice, or your own
How the object came into the collection.
Purchase
Auction
Gift
Inheritance
Exchange / trade
Self-collected / found
Commission
Acquired from Text
Seller, auction house (with sale and lot number), donor or place where it was found.
Purchase price Amount
Price paid including fees and premiums.
Provenance Text
Earlier owners and the object's history, oldest first, with sources (labels, invoices, sale catalogues).
Value
Estimated and insured value.
Estimated value Amount
Current market value as estimated.
Valuation date Date
Date of the current value estimate.
Valuation basis Choice
What the estimated value is based on.
Own estimate
Recent sales / auction results
Dealer offer
Catalogue value
Professional appraisal
Insurance valuation
Insured value Amount
Sum the object is insured for.
Collection record
Your own inventory data.
Inventory number Text
Your own number or label for the object, e.g. C-0042, as written on its label or album page.
Storage location Text
Where the object is kept, e.g. room, cabinet, drawer, album and page, box.
Standards and References
The data sheets follow the standards collectors, dealers and museums use:
ILAB / ABAA glossary and the AB Bookman's Weekly condition terms (As new, Fine, Very good, Good, Fair, Poor)
Bibliographic format terms (folio, quarto 4to, octavo 8vo, duodecimo 12mo ...)
ISBN / OCLC WorldCat identifiers; Ahearn and other first-edition points guides
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