Famous Connections - Part 1 Flog It: Trade Secrets

Over the 12 series of Flog It! you've brought us

thousands of items, and we've valued and helped you sell

nearly £1 million worth of antiques.

In this series, I want to share with you some of the things

we've learnt about the fascinating objects

that have been passed over our valuation tables.

Welcome to Trade Secrets.

People, places and events can often add an extra layer of value

to an otherwise unremarkable item.

So in today's show, our team of Flog It! experts

are going to give you the low-down on items

that have been sprinkled with stardust.

Something associated with someone - or something - famous.

Coming up, autographs from some of the biggest names in the world

land on our blue tablecloths.

There are some pretty famous people in this book.

I just turned the page, and there's Sean.

-Do you know, you've made my day.

-Really? Are you a Stones fan?

I'm a huge Stones fan.

-How lucky are you?

-I know.

The Fab Four, all on one piece of paper.

'We find out that famous signatures can be worth their weight in gold.'

Oh!

-GAVEL BANGS

-Yes!

That definitely is the back of the net.

'And our experts share some of their greatest treasures with us.'

A personal letter from a hugely important historical person.

And it now belongs to me.

Now, I can't help but admire those dedicated people who wait

for hours by a backstage door or by a players' entrance,

all hoping to beg an autograph from their idol.

As we now on this show, there is a ready market for autographs

or possessions once owned by the great and the good.

So, whose signature or former possession is ten-a-penny?

And whose could be worth a small fortune?

The rarity of a signature.

So if you think of somebody who was just so cutting edge,

so superb, but wasn't around for much. A real game-changer.

Somebody like Hendrix - his signatures are worth a fortune.

The general rule is that an autograph is worth more

if the person is dead.

Thinking of selling an autograph?

Check it's right.

If you saw the person sign it, there's no better proof.

Because, you know, there are some unscrupulous people out there

and signatures aren't that hard to fake.

When it comes to autographs, provenance is very, very important.

Over the years on Flog It!, we've seen many autographed items,

and I want to share with you some of the most fascinating.

Provenance was key when Anita valued an item

signed by Belfast's biggest heart-throb.

-Maureen, wasn't George Best a great-looking guy?

-Oh, yes!

THEY LAUGH

Tell me where you got this signature.

He lives just across the street from my mother's house.

I knew his parents, knew his sisters, his brothers.

Now, Maureen lived in the same street as George Best.

She grew up with George Best.

She watched him playing football with the boys in the street.

She watched him kicking a ball over the buildings

when she was a wee girl.

Now, did he play football with the kids in the street and so on?

-Yes, yes. He taught all the kids in the street.

-He taught all the kids?

-Was he a nice guy?

-Oh, yes, very down-to-earth.

George Best was a sort of wild guy

and he must have done plenty of dancing

with bonny girls in his time, so it was sort of fitting

'that it should be on this fitness record.'

-He's very good-looking.

-Very good-looking. Blue-eyed beauty.

-Yeah, yeah. Did he have a lot of...

-Oh, yes.

-..girls running after him?

A lot, a lot. Especially models!

So what we have here is a very simple thing.

It's a Shape Up & Dance record.

And this sort of stuff was very popular in the '70s,

with our darling George Best there and a glamorous girl by the side.

Quite possibly, the autograph would have been of more value

if it had been related to the sport that George Best played.

If it had been on a football jersey or a football or something.

So people like something allied to the person whose autograph it is.

Very difficult to estimate accurately an item like this.

Because it's a record rather than

a football shirt or a piece of football memorabilia,

I'm going to put £40-£60.

Would you be happy, Maureen, with selling it at that price?

-At the highest, at the highest...

-At the highest price?

-Yeah.

Well, Maureen, we're looking for the highest price!

What we're doing by estimating it low is to encourage the bidding.

-If we put it too high, it can put people off.

-Yeah.

Now, since the valuation, Maureen has had a word with the auctioneer.

You've upped the reserve to £80.

It's now fixed at 80. Why did you do that?

-I think it's worth more than that.

-Fingers crossed it is.

He was one of the world's greatest footballers,

possibly the world's worst singer.

George Best signed sleeve.

At £80... New bidder at 90.

110, 120.

130. 140.

150, 160, 170.

There were two private bidders in the room who were determined

to buy this for themselves.

230, 240.

250.

All out at £260...

-Yes!

-That definitely is the back of the net.

So, important that we should know where the autograph comes from.

Very, very important.

And it's not just provenance that counts.

It's also location, location, location.

Where an autographed item is sold can make the difference

between a hit or a flop, and Anita struck gold,

selling George Best's scrawl in his hometown of Belfast.

'But is location always key?

'Well, it depends on whose autograph it is.'

Film stars, I don't think it really matters, actually.

I don't think that Hollywood-cum-rest-of-the-world

battle has divided that much.

I think it is a big melting pot now with the internet.

-Ruth...

-Hello there.

-..thanks for coming to Flog It!.

-Oh, you're welcome.

-You have brought a fantastic album of photographs.

'Ruth was tremendous.'

She obviously was very unassuming.

So charming when they are not the big I am and they come over

and present something to you and they sit down at the table.

And you start looking at it and you look up and you think,

"Where did these come from?"

And she says, "I was an extra in a film."

Well, I used to be a film extra in the '70s and '80s

and I used to collect the signatures for my son.

-I've got some very interesting names in there.

-You have, haven't you?

-I have, yes.

I mean, I've got it open at a page which is rather lovely.

-It's Christopher Reeve.

-Yes.

-And he's done a little Superman there.

He definitely has, yeah.

And you go through the album

and there are some pretty famous people in this book.

And then I just turned the page, and there's Sean. What was he like?

-He was lovely.

-Yeah?

-Yes, he was a really nice man.

-A bit flirty, but he was very lovely.

-Was he?

-Yes!

'I bet she was stunning when she was younger.

'So I can quite imagine'

all the men falling over her.

And for me, especially, I've just put my eyeglass chain here

-so I can turn it over and talk about this one here.

-Yes.

"Follow the Force! Mark Hamill."

I think that's a very rare signature.

-Right, OK.

-Where did you meet him?

I worked on a film called Return Of The Jedi,

which was one of the Star Wars in...

I think it was 1985, or something like that.

-And he was also very, very friendly.

-Was he?

He was lovely to work with and I just went up,

"Can I have your autograph?" and he obliged.

Mark Hamill played the lead role of Luke Skywalker

in the Star Wars trilogy from 1977-1983.

For me, a child of the '70s, growing up in the 1980s,

who went to the cinema to see Return Of The Jedi

with his grandmother, it was just so lovely.

And it's a wave of nostalgia which just flooded back to me,

which was just brilliant.

I think somebody like Mark Hamill

would probably be worth £30-£40 on its own.

Sean Connery, 20-30, Christopher Reeve, 40-60.

We're already at £80.

All the others on there, I think we've got some quite good signatures here.

Good.

There's lots of memories. They're in the book, but they're up here too.

OK, so which is your favourite?

I think probably Sean Connery.

-150, 160...

-That's very good.

-Yes!

£170. Against you on the phone at 170.

Are we all done, then?

At £170, last time, hammer up and down at £170.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Well done, auctioneer. Yes, 170!

Good valuation, Thomas.

These albums are normally bought by autograph dealers,

and I can quite imagine the album would not stay as an album.

There's certainly a huge market in gaining a photograph

of the particular star and putting their signature below it.

Ruth's autograph album appealed to the collectors

due to the huge variety of signatures in her book

and the elusive one from actor Mark Hamill.

Rare autographs sell.

There is none rarer than William Shakespeare's, which is

believed to be the most expensive autograph in the world.

There are only six authentic examples of the Bard's signature

in existence, which are all held in institutions.

But if they were sold, they would cost around £2 million each.

There are exceptions to the rarity rule, though.

There may be thousands of autographs in existence by a person or group,

but if their star shines extra bright,

the signature is bound to cause a sensation.

There is no doubt that the best group in the world is the Rolling Stones.

-Do you know, you've made my day.

-Really? Are you a Stones fan?

-I'm a huge Stones fan.

-They were the best music to dance to when I was...

-Did you used to dance like Mick Jagger?

-Er...

-I'm not go to ask you to do it!

-I'm sure I tried to.

-So have you got this signed?

-It is signed, yes.

Ah, look at that. It's brilliant.

'Provenance is important, and with photographs,'

the buyer wants some comfort that,

if he's buying the signature of the Rolling Stones,

that it is actually

'the signature of the Rolling Stones.'

The Beatles, for example, were well-known for their roadie to sign

their signatures and also for them to sign one another's signatures.

And I think the Stones actually signed one another's signatures.

So the first issue is, are they all genuine?

And the second issue is, have you got five different

Rolling Stones on there and not Mick Jagger doing three of them?

How did you come by them?

I used to work with Charlie Watts' mother.

-Charlie Watts' mum?

-Yes. 1964.

-Yeah.

-Before they were famous.

And that's when she gave the pictures to me.

And the fact that this lady knew that they had come from Charlie

Watts' mum and that she worked with her, and that provenance, that gives

comfort to the person who is buying or the people who want to bid on it.

And it's going to make it make more money, basically.

What we will ask the auctioneers to do is to say in the catalogue

that it's a signed photograph of the Rolling Stones,

and that the photograph was given to you by Charlie Watts' mother.

And I think it is important, really important,

that we put that in the catalogue.

'I think any auction house worth its salt, if someone brings you'

the signatures of the Beatles or Rolling Stones or whoever to sell,

I think you need to check out where they've come from,

who got them, who was there at the time,

did you actually see the Rolling Stones sign these?

Or did you know Charlie Watts' mum? Or whatever.

And all of those details, that goes to providing this sort of

package that makes the whole thing more attractive to a buyer.

I'm going to suggest that you put a £200-£400 estimate on it.

I think, if you strike lucky...

..it wouldn't surprise me if they made...

-three to five times that.

-Mm-hm.

There's no doubt the Rolling Stones

are one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen,

and clearly Philip is a huge fan,

but was he right in pricing the band's signed photograph so highly?

340, 360, 380, 400.

420, 440, 460, 480.

-Yeah? 500, 520...

-It's going up, anyway.

Selling on the balcony at £520.

£520! It was a smash hit.

If you are selling an autographed item at auction,

always make sure the provenance is included in the catalogue.

There's no doubt the fantastic provenance of the signed

Rolling Stones card helped it fly away, as well as the fact

that the band is one of the most successful the world has ever seen.

Ever since the 1960s,

there's been a huge rivalry between the Rolling Stones

and their fans, and the other iconic stellar British band, the Beatles.

And the argument about who is best still rages today.

But in a world of superstar music group autographs,

which is worth more - the Rolling Stones or the Beatles?

# Love, love, love... #

-How lucky are you?

-I know.

-The Fab Four, all on one piece of paper, all signed by the band.

-Yes.

Now, it says, "To Carol, from the Beatles." Then it says,

-"George Harrison". So, obviously, George wrote that.

-Yes, he did.

Did you get these autographs?

No, a friend of mine who I used to work with,

she was a friend of the Beatles. Her and her husband.

-And I think they spent quite a lot of time with them.

-OK.

They were spending a weekend with them at the Grand Hotel in...

-In Llandudno?

-Yes.

What does devalue yours is the fact that it's signed "To Carol".

-I know, personalised, yeah.

-But you never know!

-There could be...

A Carol might like to buy them, but it's got to be Carol without an "E".

I am very adamant about my "E".

-You're a Carole with an "E", aren't you?

-Yeah.

-George got that wrong, didn't he?

-He did, unfortunately.

-Oh, bless him!

I think we put a fixed reserve on this.

-This is not going to be given away.

-No.

-A fixed reserve of £2,000. A value of 2,000-3,000.

-Lovely.

-Let's see what happens.

-Lovely, thank you very much, yes.

I hope this is going to be pick of the pops and a smash hit later on.

Carole's Beatles signatures were auctioned

just 23 miles from their home town of Liverpool.

-Hopefully, all the collectors are here.

-Hope so.

-Good luck, Carole.

-Here we go.

-Thank you.

Two-two. Two-two. Two-two.

Two-three. Two-four, two-four.

-2,400...

-Are you shaking?

-Yeah.

-2,400. 2,450.

What about your client? 2,500.

2,500. All done at 2,500, then?

-Oh!

-Yes! Carole, fantastic. You were right, weren't you?

£2,500 for the Beatles autographs.

-Thank goodness you save it and kept it safe though.

-Yes.

-That's what it's all about really.

-Yes.

You can argue till the cows come home about who, musically,

is the best band - the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

But in the world of the auction house, the Beatles won hands down.

What a winning combination -

the Fab Four's autographs all signed the same way up

on the same piece of paper and auctioned near their hometown.

Like the Beatles themselves,

Carole's autographs were top of the pops with the bidders.

Everything touched by the band turned to gold.

In 2013, a signed copy of the Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club

sold in the US at auction for a staggering £191,000.

So when it comes to collectables associated with famous people

and autographed items, what things guarantee a big hit?

Look out for rare signatures.

If the star was only alive for a short while or ended up shunning

the spotlight, the chances are they will have signed fewer autographs.

The more elusive a signature, the higher price it can command.

Buyer beware - we bang on about it time and time again on Flog It!,

but provenance is all-important, especially when it comes

to autographs, which can easily be forged.

Make sure you know where an autograph came from

before parting with your cash.

Consider location when selling.

Superstars, such as Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan

and James Dean will find their market price anywhere,

but celebrities who only found fame in their own country

may sell for more if auctioned closer to home.

And, finally, on Flog It! people often bring us items

that have been hiding in their attics or treasures they've found

rummaging through car-boot sales.

But if there's one thing you can get for free, it's an autograph.

With just a pen, a piece of paper and a lot of persistence,

you could bag yourself a signature which, in a few years,

could be worth thousands.

At our valuation day in Herne Bay,

Mark Stacey discovered yet more hand-written treasures with a famous connection.

You've brought a charming little handwritten postcard, really,

from Enid Blyton. And it's to your husband, I believe.

-Yes, he wrote to her when he was nine.

-How wonderful.

He was thrilled to get it at the time. He was a great Enid Blyton fan.

-I bet.

-He still is.

-We all are.

-Noddy and Big Ears and, of course, the Famous Five.

-That's right.

It's a shame she didn't send lashings of ginger beer

-at the same time.

-Yes, isn't it?

Does your husband know you've brought this along?

Yes, he does. He was quite happy for me to bring it.

-Why hasn't he come today himself?

-He was working this morning.

-OK.

But hopefully we'll get him to the auction.

Now, this is all about you, really, isn't it?

You got this postcard from Enid Blyton. What a piece of history.

40, I'm bid. Who's in at 50. 50 for someone?

50, I have. 60, 70.

Who's in at 70? The bid is standing at £60 now.

Any further offer?

Any further bid? If not, I will sell at £60.

If we're all done at 60...

Yes, the hammer's gone down!

In all honesty, I think the value of the postcard

lay in its whimsical nature,

rather than a huge financial one.

The Enid Blyton postcard was special as it had double appeal.

It attracted both the autograph and the postcard collectors.

We see a huge amount of postcards on Flog It!, and their interest

lies in the fact that they depict a wide variety of subject matters.

We have some humorous, we have some local,

we have some quite serious, and we have some very collectable.

These are a complete sort of cavalcade of history

at the beginning of the 20th century.

These sort of saucy seaside postcards have had a long history.

These cards are called fantasy head cards.

They are very, very poignant.

I mean, a lot of them are of ruins, First World War ruins,

obviously, in France.

Postcard collecting is big business today.

There are around 200 major postcard fairs every year in Britain

and around 10,000 serious collectors.

It's a hobby which suits every pocket

as a postcard can range from a few pennies to a few thousand pounds.

But where did it all begin? Well, across Europe,

picture postcards began to be sent in earnest in the 1870s,

but it wasn't until 1894

that they were in general use in Great Britain.

The turn of the 20th century up until the First World War

was the golden age of postcards.

Today, specialist collections of postcards

of a single subject matter can be extremely collectable.

My word! It's a complete volume of postcards

and they're all P&O cruise liners.

800. 820 with me.

840. Selling for ever at £840.

-£840.

-Very nice.

-Congratulations. It's all down to you.

-Thank you.

You put it together. You should be proud of yourself.

It's definitely worth keeping an eye out for collections

of P&O-themed postcards, as they can be worth

a significant amount of money.

In 2010, a new record was set for the sale of a single postcard.

The card in question was sent by a Titanic survivor

called Rosa Abbott to a Mrs Lessman in remembrance of the ship.

The postcard featured a photograph of Rosa herself

and it was sold for an astonishing £35,000.

So, what should you look out for?

Postcards which show places that no longer exist are very collectable.

Anything that depicts well-known events or people

will be of more value.

Consider what has been written on the card, as well.

If it's of historical interest, such as a censored card

sent from the trenches, this could add to the value.

And, finally, Philip has some advice.

Go through the cards, make sure there's no rare stamps on the back

or there's nothing that's, I don't know, addressed to

Mr Eisenhower from Winston Churchill or something like that.

Famous people throughout history

have influenced fashion and politics.

The notoriety have had their clothing and their haircuts copied.

But it may surprise you to know that sometimes

even their furniture was worth replicating.

Samuel Pepys is known today as a great diarist of the 17th century,

and in his lifetime he was a well-regarded civil servant,

MP and bibliophile.

Pepys amassed a huge collection of books during his lifetime

and, by the time of his death in 1703, he had over 3,000 of them.

Now, he is the first person on record in this country

to have a bookcase especially commissioned for his needs

during his tenure as the Secretary of Admiralty.

Now, this bookcase is an exact replica built by the same craftsman.

It's freestanding and it's got glazed doors.

This was built by Thomas Simpson,

a master cabinet maker at the Woolwich yard circa 1670,

a couple of years after Pepys's bookcase.

That one is at the V&A Museum - that's how important it is.

You have to bear in mind, this was so unusual in the day

to have something freestanding, something movable,

because all other bookcases were actually built into the walls,

fixed permanently. And, of course, glass was so expensive

nobody had ever thought about putting it on the doors of a bookcase.

It's quite mesmerising to look at

and it's a remarkable survivor from the reign of King Charles II,

late 17th century.

And, also, it's a great example of how famous people

have influenced design throughout history.

It's great to think that following celebrity trends didn't start

with the Beckhams or the Beatles, but in fact it began centuries ago.

Charlie Ross loves antiques of all shapes and sizes,

but he has a particular fondness for items that capture

a slice of our social history.

Now, here he explains why there was one auction lot

that he couldn't resist bidding on.

How exciting is this? A bundle of random correspondence.

You may think it's random, but who wrote the letters?

None other than Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of this country.

And there's a particular letter here that was written in 1931,

shortly after his party, the Labour Party as it turned out,

had lost the election.

It's a letter written to a friend of his -

and I'm sure it's not for the consumption of anybody else -

really being rude about his own party.

Subsequently, he carried on being Prime Minister

of a coalition government shortly after that,

and he allowed some Conservatives into his coalition parliament,

his governing body, and because of that, the Labour Party said,

"We're not having them," and booted him out of the Labour Party.

So he was Prime Minister of a coalition government

having been kicked out by his party. It's just fascinating.

To be able to find something like this in a saleroom

is just extraordinary.

Obviously, put in for sale by the recipient of these letters

who is one Griff Jones of Swansea -

no doubt a stalwart member of the Labour Party.

If you're going through boxes in salerooms,

look for correspondence and, like I did,

you might find the most fascinating things relating to history.

And I will read you the one letter.

Private and confidential.

Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, Whitehall. 31st October 1931.

"My dear Griff,

"none of the many letters I received during the contest

"gave me more pleasure than yours.

"The deplorable way in which the opposition Labour Party

"was led and advised is the most heartbreaking thing

"I have known in public life.

"It was a combination of nearly all the vices

"and the blunders of politics."

It goes on and on and on, and then it says,

"Under the control of the TUC

"the Daily Herald has become a mere gutter rag,

"untruthful and dishonest.

"The smash of the Party, owing to its own action,

"is even more astounding than the very embarrassing result

"of the election itself.

"With kindest regards to your wife and yourself,

"I am, yours always sincerely, Ramsay MacDonald."

The Prime Minister!

I mean, a personal letter from a hugely important historical person.

And it now belongs to me.

So we've passed on some wisdom of how to get

the best from your penned treasures.

Now, if you've got any antiques and collectables you want to sell,

bring them along to one of our valuation days

and we'll see what we can do for you.

That's it for today. Join me again soon for many more trade secrets.