Collectible autographs are worth a lot
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Value lies in the rare and unusual. A single-signed Babe Ruth baseball (a ball with just his signature on it is worth more than one with multiple signatures), an early Beatles album with all four autographs and Thomas Jefferson's letters are all worth more than their weights in gold.  

And those scribbled signatures from the unknown band playing at the local club? Their John Hancocks have potential value. Signatures from such once-struggling artists as James Dean, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix are worth thousands today.

The Forbes collection
Kenneth Rendell, an author who also deals in historical autographs, doesn't sell Jessica Simpson's scrawl but does handle the signatures of Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison and Abraham Lincoln. The late Malcolm Forbes, a dedicated collector, was among Rendell's clients.

"I sold him a letter (written by Thomas Jefferson) for $25,000," Rendell says. "It later sold for $800,000."

Forbes' collection made a "staggering profit" following the death of the wealthy businessman. But Rendell says the reason Forbes' collection was so valuable was because Forbes didn't collect to make a profit.

Rendell says successful collectors "bring an enthusiasm to it, an enjoyment that shows." And because they're so ardent about what they do, their collections sell well down the road.

"I've been in it 50 years and the people who bought with passion did extremely well because their investments are interesting to other people. Those who are more mechanical about it do not do as well," Rendell says.

As an example, Rendell points to his own wife, who has always been interested in the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette of France and has purchased both letters by the queen and books from her library.

"I couldn't say it was a good investment 20 years ago," he says. But not only have her items appreciated in value, Rendell believes the recently released movie about Marie Antoinette's life will spark new interest in the guillotined monarch.

The wish list
Every collector has one signature that's at the top of his or her wish list. For movie and TV critic Jane Louise Boursaw, it's Katharine Hepburn. Rendell says his best-seller is Winston Churchill. Babe Ruth, says Joe Orlando, president of PSA/DNA Authentication Services, is "the single most desirable" signature in the world. 

Whose signature will one day be the equivalent of an Elvis or a George Washington? It's hard to tell, says Rendell.

"Today, people don't know who Arnold Bennett was," he says, "but at one time he was one of the most popular writers in the world."

Bennett, the Stephen King of his day, isn't in much demand as far as autographs go. However, there is little doubt his signature would have been more prized at the turn of the 20th century than a fellow writer whose published books were sold alongside Bennett's. The other writer -- a fellow named Winston Churchill -- was a total unknown.