Buzz
Consider two identical items. One is priced at $2.97 at Walmart, while the other fetched a staggering $632,369 at a 2018 auction. What sets them apart? A baseball, adorned with signatures—11 to be precise, as we’ll explore shortly.
Autographs rank among the most coveted collectibles globally. While some come free, others command millions. Discover the ten most expensive autographed items ever sold, featuring surprising inclusions and notable exclusions.
Signatures such as William Shakespeare’s are absent from this list, as they’ve never been legally sold, despite an estimated worth of $5 million. Even John Hancock’s famed signature missed the mark, with a signed letter selling for $10,745—nowhere near the lowest-priced item here.
Below, explore the ten most valuable signed objects ever auctioned.
10. Ulysses First Edition – $460,500
James Joyce, the Irish author, penned Ulysses post-World War I, with its publication in 1922. This celebrated novel traces a day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin. Notably, the book faced a ban even before its release due to its explicit content, including scenes of masturbation and sexual fantasies, which were deemed too provocative for public consumption in New York.
Despite the controversy, Ulysses gained immense popularity, with fans paying $50 per copy in the 1920s (equivalent to $800 today). Of the 100 first-edition copies, Joyce signed only two. One of these rare signed editions was auctioned for $460,500 in 2002, showcasing the enduring appeal of Joyce’s bold narrative style.
9. Hall of Fame Baseball – $632,369
This baseball stands out as the only one on the list, featuring eleven signatures from the original 25 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, including icons like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Honus Wagner. This autographed ball shattered records, nearly doubling the price of a Babe Ruth-signed baseball that sold for $388,000 in 2012.
The baseball, sold for $632,369 in 2018, was autographed by eleven Hall of Famers during the 1939 induction ceremony, marking the opening of the Hall of Fame building. Sadly, the remaining fourteen original members couldn’t attend, as they had already passed away.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: The priciest baseball ever sold was Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball, which set a single-season record in 1998. Shortly after the record was broken, comic book artist Todd Macfarlene bought it for $3 million! It doesn’t make our list solely because it lacks McGwire’s signature.
Another fun fact: The St. Louis Cardinals initially offered Phil Ozersky, the fan who caught the ball, a signed bat, ball, and jersey in exchange. Ozersky countered with one request—to meet McGwire. When McGwire declined, Ozersky’s decision to keep the ball turned him into a millionaire.
8. Founding Father’s Signature – $722,500
Whose signature on the Declaration of Independence holds the highest value? Ben Franklin? Thomas Jefferson? John Hancock? Among the fifty-six signers, some became presidents, while others have monuments and museums in their honor. One name is synonymous with the word “signature.” Yet, none of these men have a more valuable autograph than this particular signer.
Button Gwinnett is the name to remember. As a Congressional representative from Georgia and a Founding Father of the United States, his signature is the most coveted among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This is primarily due to its extreme rarity.
Only 51 authenticated signatures of Button Gwinnett exist today. In 2010, one of these rare autographs fetched $722,500 at auction. After losing an election in 1777, Gwinnett challenged the victor to a duel, resulting in a fatal injury that claimed his life three days later. Perhaps he should have accepted the election outcome gracefully.
7. John Lennon’s Double Fantasy – $850,000
Released on November 17, 1980, Double Fantasy was a collaborative album by Beatles icon John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono. Three decades later, a copy signed by Lennon sold for $850,000, setting a record for the highest price paid for a single record at the time. This record was later surpassed by Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, of which only one copy was ever made.
Was Double Fantasy Lennon’s most iconic work? No. Was it his most critically acclaimed album? Far from it. However, the signed copy belonged to Mark David Chapman, the man who tragically shot and killed Lennon on December 8, 1980, just hours after Lennon autographed Chapman’s personal copy of the album.
6. Babe Ruth’s Yankee Contract – $2,300,000
Babe Ruth—a name that instantly evokes thoughts of baseball greatness. Known as the Sultan of Swat and the Great Bambino, Ruth was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees 102 years ago. While one might assume the Red Sox received a treasure trove of talent in return for the greatest player of all time, they were sorely mistaken.
The Red Sox traded Ruth for $100,000, allowing owner Harry Frazee to fund his Broadway musical, No, No Nanette. Nearly a century later, the contract Ruth signed sold for over 20 times that amount. Before the trade, the Red Sox had won five of the first 15 World Series, while the Yankees had none. Post-trade, the Yankees claimed 27 titles, while the Red Sox endured an 86-year drought, famously known as the Curse of the Bambino.
5. “Reach Out to Asia” Fender Stratocaster – $2,700,000
The “Reach Out to Asia” Fender Stratocaster became the world’s most expensive guitar when it sold for $2.7 million at a 2006 charity auction. While Kurt Cobain’s Martin 1959 D-18E later fetched $6 million and David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster sold for $3.9 million in 2019, this guitar remains a landmark in music memorabilia history.
This unique guitar, signed by 19 rock legends such as Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Mick Jagger, was the brainchild of Bryan Adams. The auction proceeds were dedicated to supporting victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, making it a symbol of both music and humanitarian efforts.
4. Einstein’s “God Letter” – $2,892,500
In 2018, a letter penned and signed by Albert Einstein 68 years prior sold for nearly $2.9 million after a four-minute bidding war. This surpassed the previous record for an Einstein letter, which sold for $2.1 million in 2002. The earlier letter had warned President Roosevelt about the potential for “extremely powerful bombs,” leading to the Manhattan Project.
The “God Letter,” written a year before Einstein’s death, reflects his belief that no deity influences daily life. While expressing pride in his Jewish heritage, Einstein also conveyed his lack of enthusiasm for Judaism. Addressed to Eric Gutkind, author of Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt, the letter reveals Einstein’s profound contemplations on religion and identity.
3. George Washington’s Act of Congress – $9,800,000
If you had $10,000,000, what would you purchase? A sprawling 30,000-square-foot vacation home on a private island? A lavish superyacht? A 100-second Super Bowl ad? One bidder at Christie’s New York chose to spend nearly ten million on George Washington’s personal copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, both bearing his signature. When sold in 2012, it set a record for the most expensive American book or document ever auctioned.
A new record was established just a year ago. Of the estimated 500 original printed copies of the Constitution, only 13 survive today. One of these copies sold for $43.2 million in 2021, breaking the record for the most expensive document or book ever sold at auction. This copy, intended for delegates like James Madison, Ben Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton, lacked an original signature, excluding it from this list. Still, $43.2 million is an astonishing figure.
Fun Fact: The winning bidder for George Washington’s Act of Congress was revealed to be the non-profit Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, the organization responsible for preserving Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. One can only imagine the astronomical price Washington’s personally signed Constitution would fetch today if it were ever put up for sale.
2. Robert Kennedy’s of the Emancipation Proclamation – $3,778,500
In 1964, Robert Kennedy purchased a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for $9,500, 101 years after Abraham Lincoln signed it. This document is one of 48 original signed copies, with about half surviving today. Fourteen are held in public institutions, while the rest remain in private hands. When auctioned in 2010, experts predicted a sale price of around $1.5 million, but it ultimately fetched $3,778,500.
The second-highest sale of an original Emancipation Proclamation copy fetched just over two million in 2012. The fact that it was owned by John F. Kennedy’s brother, Robert Kennedy, undoubtedly contributed to its record-breaking price. While Bobby Kennedy’s investment proved lucrative, he never witnessed the profits, as he was tragically assassinated in 1968.
1. 1864 Lincoln Letter – $3,400,000
A handwritten letter by Abraham Lincoln, described by Sotheby’s as “arguably his most personal and powerful statement on God, slavery, and emancipation,” sold for $3.4 million in a 2008 auction. The 16th U.S. president penned this letter in response to a petition from 195 children urging him to free “all the little slave children in this country.”
Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation a year before writing this letter. However, slavery was not formally abolished nationwide until the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, eight months after his assassination.
