MC’s friend BD, a dancer still at 88, owns a collection of celebrity autographs from when she danced the “floor shows” in old Las Vegas (1952-56). BD performed at the great old casinos: El Rancho, Thunderbird, The Flamingo, The Desert Inn, and The Dunes. MC wants to know how valuable a few of these signed celebrity photos really are. The hobby of collecting autographs, also known as philography, is fraught with pitfalls. The value of a signature (think about signing a check) requires proof of authenticity.
Four ways celebrities typically ‘autographed’ photos in this era:
- hand signed original photo lab produced photos
- preprints
- secretarial proxy signed photos
- autopen signatures
A autopen uses a facsimile of a signature ‘etched’ into a matrix and a pen held in tension on a mechanical arm. More about the collector market’s conundrum caused by these machines later.
Original Celebrity Signed Photos
Since BD’s two photos are signed to HER we can rule out all three type of signatures of lesser quality and consider these truly “original” signatures. For a further test of authenticity hold the photo at an angle opposite a bright light source. A true autograph, done on the spot, will float above the glossy photo.
Preprints often fool collectors of autographed celebrity photos. A preprint can be “legitimate,” authorized by the star, or a fraud which bears a forged signature. A preprint is simply a photographic reproduction of an original signed photo. A photo of a photo includes a “real” autograph, because the copies are made from an autographed original. Fraudulent preprints often take a photo of a signature and a photo of a star and create a signed photo. Forgers then reproduced on old photo paper.
Fraudulent Signed Celebrity Photos
Forgeries are tough to spot if a collector buys online. To catch a fraudulent preprint find a celebrity’s other signed photos online. If you find an identical signature on an identical photo, yours may be a preprint, because nobody signs exactly the same way twice. A preprint’s autograph appears underneath the gloss of the photo. Run your dry finger over the autograph and you’ll find it flat. A real signature feels ever so slightly “raised.” Of course collectors consider a preprint iof lower value in the philography market.
You may not know that an outside firm often handles celebrity fan mail. Ozzy Osborne and Family uses one of varied reproductive service such as Studio Fan Mail.
A faked photo and autograph of the newer variety is often an ink jet photo which fades rapidly. Check to see if the back of an autographed photo shows a photo paper maker’s mark from a recognizable type on a photo lab printed photo, old school style.
If these tricks to authenticate still leaves a collector of autographed photos in question, they can pay a slew of third-party “authenticators” to “certify” authenticity of both a photo and a signature, such as Celebrity Authentics CAG. Similar organizations authenticate sports signed photos as well.
The Value?
The value of the ballet dancer in BD’s collection, a shot and signature of Michael Panaeiff, is $75. Panaeiff, a celebrated Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo dancer of the 1940’s, moved to LA, and became a noted choreographer and Hollywood dancer/teacher.
The value of BD’s glamorous Shelly Winters signed photo is $100.
The most difficult autographed signature type in the philography market is perhaps the autopen signature. Developed in 1937, the Robot Pen records a signature on something akin to a vinyl record.
During WWII the Navy requested an autopen machine from inventor Robert De Shazo. The US Government adopted these machines for Congressmen, Senators, and the Executive branch. Controversy raged as to the proper USE of the autopen. President Obama in 2013 ‘signed’ tax cuts while vacationing in Hawaii. Republicans then discussed the Constitutionality of such an autopen signature!
Technology increases the likelihood of further valuation concerns in the philography market. The celebrated author Margaret Atwood developed the LongPen in 2006 for her book signings. She signed on her remote tablet PC and sent the signature online to a robotic hand. She also used a real time video of her signing, so the fan miles away saw the book in their hand as authentically signed.
Good article. Wonder if you would recommend a place to sell autographed photos and posters?