Rare Signature & Manuscript Investment

"None of my other investments give me the joy that autographs do because they make me feel that I am holding a piece of history in my hands."

Malcolm Forbes, Forbes magazine

Investment in rare autographs and historical documents and signatures has repeatedly proven to be a strong, stable, safe haven investment through times of economic, social and political turbulence.

Healthy returns are complemented by the wonderful feeling of pride from owning an important piece of history. How many people do you know with a genuine Marilyn Monroe signed photograph, an authenticated Henry VIII signed manuscript or a first edition of a Disney book signed by the man himself?

Historic Returns

We trace one hundred of the top autographed pieces in our Fraser’s 100 Index. The index shows prices from 1997 and gives an average of the percentage growth in value to current date. 

The Frasers 100 Autograph Price Index was designed to provide the definite measure of overall market performance and a yardstick against which to measure individual increases within the market for autographs and memorabilia. It serves to highlight the real price increases being achieved, especially amongst the rarer and more desirable items.

The index covers the full range of collecting themes and provides an objective measure of the current state of the market.

The index has recorded an average compound increase of 11.64% over the last 13 years, increasing in total value from £80,720 to £337,650.

Click here to see the current index

Malcolm Forbes of ‘Forbes Magazine’ highlighted the potential of autograph investment when he said: 

“In my view, they are the most undervalued of all areas of collecting, especially when you consider what people are paying for even second rate paintings.” 

Rare manuscripts and autographed pieces are also perishable and some of the rarest pieces are often bought by or donated to museums, thus diminishing the supply of such items even further.

That is why the Fraser’s 100 Index has shown such stable growth over the last decade – the simple rules of supply & demand.

Since the market is driven by demand, we can never know exactly which autographs will perform best and in general, price increases are not linear but ‘jump’ in steps when collectors come into the market (which is why we recommend a medium to long term portfolio holding); as with all investments, performance is never guaranteed, only indicated by historical precedent.

That said, there are certain items (often picked out by CEO, Mike Hall or Investment Director, Keith Heddle in the regular investment e-newsletter; you can sign up here which stand out for their quality and likely investment performance.  Rare historical documents like Henry VIII or Edward IV or Beethoven, or classic icons of the 20th Century such as Marylin Monroe, James Dean or Bruce Lee all have a history of increasing interest and price rises.

For more information on our investment products, or for a free no obligation consultation with our specialist Investment Portfolio Management team, call us on 0845 026 7170 ( in the UK) or +44 1481 708 270 (from abroad). Alternatively, you can email us on investment@stanleygibbons.com. We are happy to answer any queries or concerns you may have.