Autographs Remain a Signature Investment

The Newest Edition of The Sanders Price Guide to Autographs Now Available. Whose signature is worth the most? Declaration of Independence signer Button Gwinnett goes for $150,000; Beethoven for $7,800; Geronimo $6,458; President George Washington for $5,721, but his wife Marthas worth more at $6,392; and all four of the Beatles (on one piece) $4,960. Over 80,000 other prices from the historical to current celebrities are also given in this world-leading autograph price reference. The Top 25 autograph values are included in this news release.

ALEXANDER, N.C. (PRWEB) August 8, 2003 - Alexander Books a publishing imprint of Creativity, Inc.-Western North Carolinas largest locally-owned book publisher-announces the national release of The Sanders Price Guide to Autographs (6th edition) by Dr. Richard Saffro, Jim Smith, Don Shaw, Helen Sanders, and Ralph Roberts.

The 5th edition Sanders-released in 2000-until now has remained indisputably the largest and most complete price guide with thousands more celebrity names than any other price guide. The new 6th edition, weighing in at 736 pages and over 80,000 celebrity prices raises the bar dramatically higher. No other autograph price guide extant comes anywhere close.

The most expensive autograph a collector might hope to come across outside of a museum is Button Gwinnett. Gwinnett-for whom Gwinnett County, part of metropolitan Atlanta, is named-signed the American Declaration of Independence, became the first governor of Georgia, and promptly got himself killed in a duel without signing very many other documents. A tiny piece of paper - not much larger than a postage stamp-with his black ink autograph is worth $150,000 today. A complete document signed by Gwinnett can bring in the range of $300,000.

Second comes Martin Luther, the famous religious reformer who started the Protestant movement. His signature is worth $49,500.

After Gwinnett, the next highest American is Thomas Lynch, Jr.-another luminary of Americas Revolutionary War. Hes worth $17,825.

Barbara Fritchie wins for the ladies, having the highest valued signature of any female. A Marylander, Fritchie was immortalized by the poet John Greenleaf Whittier who wrote of her defiance to Confederate legend Stonewall Jackson in refusing to strike the Union flag on her house. Shoot if you must, this old gray head, but spare your countrys flag."

The Father of His Country and its first president, George Washington provides a signature valued at $5721 but, interestingly enough, his wife Martha beats him out (and is the second most valuable lady) at $6392. The reason for this is logical-Georges scribblings as a public official were many times that of his wife, so her signature is much rarer.
Here is the complete Top 25 list:

Name   Category   Value
1. Gwinnett, Button   Revolutionary War   $150,000
2. Luther, Martin   Clergy   $49,500
3. (tie) Ivan the Terrible   Royalty   $35,000
3. (tie) Mozart, Wolfgang A.   Composer   $35,000
4. Edward IV (England)   Royalty   $25,000
5. More, Thomas, Sir   Author   $19,750
6. Lynch, Thomas Jr.   Revolutionary War   $17,825
7. Toledo, Cardinal Francisco   Clergy   $15,000
8. Fritchie, Barbara   Civil War   $12,500
9. Cervantes, Miguel de   Author   $10,000
10. Armistead, Lewis Addison   Civil War   $8,875
11. Taylor, George   Revolutionary War   $8,000
12. Beethoven, Ludwig van   Composer   $7,800
13. Warren, Joseph   Revolutionary War   $6,875
14. Sitting Bull (T. Iyotake)   Native American   $6,817
15. Poe, Edgar Allan   Author   $6,810
16. Geronimo   Native American   $6,458
17. Washington, Martha   First Lady   $6,392
18. (tie) Jones, John Paul   Military-Rev. War   $5,750
18. (tie) Rain-in-the-Face   Native American   $5,750
18. (tie) Raleigh, Sir Walter   History   $5,750
19. Crockett, David ('Davy')   Military   $5,731
20. Washington, George   President   $5,721
21. (tie) Henry VIII (Eng)   Royalty   $5,500
21. (tie) Calvin, John   Clergy   $5,500
21. (tie) Paine, Thomas   Revolutionary War   $5,500
22. Cook, James, Capt.   Br. Naval Explorer   $5,267
23. Beatles (all four)   Entertainment   $4,960
24. Custer, George A.   Civil War   $4,825 (War Date)
25. Masterson, Wm. B. Bat"   Lawman   $4,800

Of course, The Sanders Price Guide to Autographs 6th edition has values for the many thousands of signatures you are much more likely to find, including many still alive and still signing. It features articles by autograph experts and also thousands of authentic autograph facsimiles so that you can compare your findings and make sure they are legitimate.

With this edition, the price guides staff has been greatly enhanced. Dr. Richard Saffro-a retired physician-is pursuing his lifelong passion for autograph collecting, and is now the president of the Sanders Price Guide. Also new is Jim Smith, owner of Remember When Auctions, Inc. since 1988. His firm specializes in historical autographs, documents, and ephemeral material. And Don Shaw is Senior Partner of a large accounting firm and a long time collector and investor in autographs.

Two of the original authors-Helen Sanders (the price guide was named after Helen and her husband, the late George Sanders) and Ralph Roberts-remain associated with the book. Roberts is also the author of over 90 other books.
Many other experts in various fields also contribute on a regular basis to the price guide. Pricing represents current market values and is now being updated on a continuous basis. An online version of the guide will be offered soon at sanderspriceguide.com.

Experience counts. The people who do the Sanders guides invented the autograph price guide and for the last 16 years have done more of them by far than anyone else.

The Sanders Price Guide to Autographs (6th Edition) (Alexander Books, ISBN 1-57090-213-5, 736 pages, 7.5 x 9.125 inches, trade paper, illustrated) is available through most bookstores for $29.95. To find your closest store, call the publisher at 1-800-472-0438, or send an inquiry via e-mail to orders@abooks.com.

Alexander Books (abooks.com) is a division of Creativity, Inc. Located five miles from Asheville in Alexander, North Carolina, Creativity has already published hundreds of books nationally under the imprints of Alexander Books, Blue/Gray Books, Elephant Books, Farthest Star Science Fiction, Land of the Sky Books, Mountain Church, and WorldCommÒ. As aBOOKS Distributing, the company also distributes the books of more than 60 other publishers. Ralph Roberts is CEO.

Contact: Ralph Roberts, publisher         
Alexander Books      
   1-800-472-0438 voice & fax   
   http://abooks.com

Authors / experts contact:
     Jim Smith, 1-866-237-4116