Field Index — Standalone signed items — sports, music, film, historical

Autographs — Realized Sales Index

Autographs as a standalone category — signed photos, signed albums, signed historical documents — are the smallest of the Field Index's tracked categories by total dollars but the most-faked. Authentication is the single biggest value driver. JSA, PSA/DNA, Caiazzo (Beatles), and Beckett are the recognized authenticators; everything else trades at a deep discount.

Tracked sales
3
Median sale
$96K
Highest sale
$191K
Aggregate hammer
$297K

What drives value

  • Authentication: JSA / PSA/DNA / Caiazzo (Beatles) / Beckett — major auction houses accept these
  • Documented signing event (date, location, witness)
  • Pre-WWII signatures with strong provenance — Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Wagner
  • Modern celebrities who signed less prolifically — Cobain, Hendrix, Dylan
  • Item the signature is on — sweet-spot ball, iconic album cover, in-person photograph

Where it sells

  • Heritage Auctions (sports, music, historical)
  • Memory Lane Inc. (sports)
  • Julien's Auctions (music)
  • RR Auction (mixed — sports, music, historical)
  • Raab Collection (presidential and historical documents)

Top comps in this category

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
    Lou Gehrig single-signed baseball

    $96K · Memory Lane Inc.

  3. 3.

All tracked sales

Every autographs comp in the Field Index.

Searchable, sortable. Click any row for full provenance, source citations, comparable comps, and editorial notes.

Showing 3 of 3 tracked sales.

Item Price
Joe DiMaggio signed Louisville Slugger bat

Sports Autographs — Baseball

$10K
Lou Gehrig single-signed baseball

Sports Autographs — Baseball

$96K
Babe Ruth single-signed baseball (sweet spot, blue ink)

Sports Autographs — Baseball

$191K

Recently tracked

The four most-recent sales added.