No autograph is more popular than Mickey Mantle's. And no autograph is forged more.



Many Mantle forgeries are easy to identify, once you know what to look for. Telling a skilled forgery from a genuine Mantle takes a lot…

Last I heard, there were no genuine, intact Beatles-signed guitars known. The only one was reportedly destroyed in a Malibu, Calif. landslide about 15 years ago.



RR Auction sold one a Beatles signed guitar around 2010, but the owner had tapped the autographs down with an awl to, um, "preserve them."…

Who are your favorite autograph dealers? Ones that never sell an autograph they're not sure is genuine, and give customers their money back the rare times they make a mistake?

I need to know.

I'm assembling a…

The judge rejected Michael Johnson's fourth attempt to add shill bidding allegations to his RR Auction lawsuit a few weeks ago. With his attempt to make it a class action lawsuit failing in March 2015 and his attempt to add shill bidding and another claim failing on August 12, Johnson's case heads to trial in January, apparently on his original claims only.…

A Sgt Peppers album signed by all four Beatles is being auctioned by Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London on June 29. I haven't seen any news coverage on it, so I wanted to get the word out.…

A handwritten letter by an 11-year-old John Lennon, the oldest letter known, is the star of…

JustCollecting.com has released their index of the 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Autographs of 2015.

Compiled in conjuction with Paul Fraser Collectibles as part of their PFC40 Index, there are actually two lists: one with the most expensive autographs of living celebrities, and one with the most…

Law Firm of Gardner & Rosenberg P.C. Press Release, Sept. 15, 2015:

New York, NY ‐ A New York arbitrator this week slapped a high end Manhattan auction house with a judgment of more than $600,000 on a claim that it cheated a client out of the sale of two unique Michael Jackson items.  The client alleged that Gotta Have Rock and Roll, a rock and roll…

UPDATE: B.B. King passed peacefully yesterday, May 14.

I've been sad since hearing the news, that B.B. King is in hospice care. It was confirmed by a statement by King on his website, …

Julien's Auctions is scheduled to auction Lot 685, a band-signed "Beatles '65" album at Saturday's…

Formed with the stated goal of stamping out fake autographs, AFTAL, the Autograph Fair Trade Alliance, attracted many of UK's and Europe's most reputable dealers as members. But while the vast majority of AFTAL dealers lived its stated goal, including a recognized expert used by law enforcement to testify against the forgery industry, AFTAL's two primary founders, Dominic Manning and Marc Mclennan, used it as cover to sell and authenticate thousands of forgeries. Manning has seized control…

It's America's national anthem, and a historic mystery of the highest order:

Who wrote this manuscript of America's national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner? Not the poem that became the song; that was Francis Scott Key, of course. Who wrote this music manuscript of it; the musical…

NBC News Los Angeles aired an investigative report on Julien's Auction's Tompkins & Bush Michael Jackson sale on Tuesday, Dec. 18's 11:00 News. Watch the report and read the accompanying article on NBC Los…

Collectors need to know who the good autograph dealers are. Dealers who are careful to make sure they are selling genuine autographs, and honor a meaningful lifetime guarantee of authenticity. So let's build a list of them.

What dealers would you recommend for the list? Tell us.

Every dealer recommended for the list will be checked out by the Autograph Magazine Live! community. Only collectors can nominate dealers for the list, and only collectors will check the…

A lot of buying and selling takes place between members on Autograph Magazine Live. I didn't realize how much until recently.

You may save money that way or get more when you sell. There's nothing wrong with that. But safe member-to-member buying has been a growing concern of mine over the past few months.

The vast majority of AML members would never want to sell a questionable autograph to anyone. But as we all know, forgeries are a huge problem in autographs. And the…

FBI Press Release, July 25, 2012:

WILLIAM MASTRO AND TWO OTHER EXECUTIVES OF FORMER MASTRO AUCTIONS INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUDING BIDDERS IN ONLINE AND LIVE AUCTIONS OF SPORTS MEMORABILIA AND OTHER COLLECTIBLES…

A new collector sent this in for us to publish:

I've written some observations about being a new collector. If you think it's of any merit, I'll forward it to whoever you feel could post or print it to try to help others."

 …

When Iowa custom home builder Rick Garceau found American Royal Arts, he thought he was in Rock 'n' Roll Heaven.

Owner Jerry Gladstone trumpeted ARA as the world's largest seller of autographed rock 'n' roll, and they had an eye-popping selection of rare, signed, classic rock memorabilia. Garceau spent over $88,000 with ARA in 2006 and 2007, snapping up Beatles-signed "Abbey Road" and "Sgt. Pepper's" albums; guitars signed by the Grateful Dead, Wings,…

Rockford, Ill, October 25, 2011—Six men have been charged in similar but separate fraud schemes involving the sports memorabilia business and the purchase and sale of equipment and uniforms used by professional and collegiate athletes. Today, in U.S. District Court, four defendants were charged in criminal informations and two defendants were charged in indictments.

According to court documents, each case involved the sale, consignment, or auction of jerseys, in which each defendant…