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Autograph Magazine Launches Signed Beatles Album Census

Join Autograph Magazine Live! for regular census updates.

Beatles albums signed by John, Paul, George and Ringo are among the most valuable and desirable Rock ’n’ Roll collectibles. Only about 125 are known; most being their first album, “Please Please Me.” But how many signed Beatles albums really exist?

Autograph Magazine wants to find out.

Announcing Autograph Magazine’s Signed Beatles Album Census. Our goal is to locate and track every Beatles album signed by the Fab Four, in order to preserve our musical heritage and help protect collectors against forgeries. If you have an album signed by the Beatles, I encourage you to have yours counted. It's free.

And if you have a Beatles album signed by all four band members, you’ve got something quite valuable. Albums in good condition typically range from about $15,000 for the most common one, “Please Please Me,” to well over $100,000 for some of the rarest albums, especially U.S. releases. Most are so rare they're worth in the mid-5 figures or more.

Even albums signed by just three are very rare and can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.There will be a section of the census for these.

And while extremely rare, albums signed by both John Lennon and George Harrison and missing Paul McCartney and/or Ringo Starr have a chance of being completed—so we've decided to have a section of the census for those, too.

Most Beatles Albums Are Extremely Rare or Unknown Signed

You wouldn't know it by the hundreds of albums offered online and in some memorabilia galleries, but band-signed Beatles albums are very hard to come by. Many are currently unknown, or there are only one or two examples. Some are "secretarials," where some or all of the autographs were signed in the Beatles' names by their management, staff...and occasionally one of the Beatles signing for others. But most are outright forgeries offered by sellers that prey on the unwary. They often come with certificates of authenticity from dubious authenticators and forensic document examiners.

Rule of Thumb: Only "Please Please Me" commonly sells for under $30,000 signed, and the occasional "With The Beatles." Any other undamaged band-signed Beatles album priced in that range should be looked at with extreme caution.

How rare are genuine signed Beatles albums? These are Autograph’s estimates of the counts of signed Beatles albums that are accepted as genuine by the legitimate autograph community:

US Release Band-Signed Beatles Albums
7-8 “Meet the Beatles” [As of February 17, 2012]
2 “Help”
1 “Beatles 65”
1 “Beatles VI”
0 “Rubber Soul”
2 “Revolver”
0 “Magical Mystery Tour”
0 “Abbey Road”
0 “Yellow Submarine”
1 “White Album”
1 “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
0 “Let it Be”
15-16 Known [Editor's Note: 2 since May 2011 not added.]

[Editor's Note: 3 Meet the Beatles since May 2011 added to list.]

UK Release Band-Signed Beatles Albums
Roughly 75 “Please Please Me” (Their first album, signed in three 1963 UK promotional tours)
16-21 “With the Beatles” (The tail end of their easier accessibility) [Editor's Note: 1 since April 2011 added.]
8-10 “Hard Day’s Night”
3 “Beatles for Sale”
2 “Help”
1 “Rubber Soul”
1 “Revolver”
5 “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
0 “Magical Mystery Tour” (All reissues from the 1980s and up.)
0 “White Album”
0 “Yellow Submarine”
2 “Abbey Road”
0 “Let it Be”
Roughly 113-120 Known (38-45 plus roughly 75 “Please Please Me” albums)

How to Participate in the Census

Email large images of your album showing the autographs clearly to Beatles@autographmagazine.com, along with your name, state or province, and country. Put “Beatles Census” and the title of the album in the subject line, along with how many signatures are on it: 2, 3 or 4.
Example: "Beatles Census Revolver 4" for a Revolver signed by all four Beatles
Please only send two signature albums if they're signed by John and George.
Send each album in a separate email.
Owners of albums will not be disclosed without their permission.
You may request that your album(s) not be publicly displayed without your permission.
When possible, we want to inspect your album without knowing where you got it or who authenticated it, so please don't include receipts or authentication papers at this time. If there is an authentication sticker on an unsigned side of your album, please don’t send an image of that side at this time. We may request an image later.
Images of albums submitted to the census will be available for viewing on Autograph Magazine Live! unless you request we keep yours private. We will not list your name. You’re welcome to participate in any and all discussions

Two Levels of Signed Beatles Album Census Registrations:

Confirmed: For albums inspected in person by at least one of our accepted experts. This is in addition to online authentication by several of our experts.
Online: For albums authenticated and approved online only by our experts.

Submit your images to Autograph Magazine's Signed Beatles Album Census today!

Tags: Albums, Beatles, Signed, authentic, census, genuine, george, john, paul, ringo

1 member likes this

Comment by lESLEY MCCLEAN on October 1, 2011 at 1:38pm: THE SECOND 'DOCTOR' MEET THE BEATLES LP HAS JUST SOLD FOR 65000 US DOLLARS PLUS COMMISSION

Comment by sling on October 1, 2011 at 7:27pm: what company sold the 2nd doctor beatles?

Comment by DB on October 2, 2011 at 2:16am: Most likely this one;

The Meet The Beatles! album inscribed to Dr. Gordon is the only personalized album known to exist that was signed by all four Beatles at the time of their launch to fame in the U.S. on the Ed Sullivan Show. No more than 15 Beatles albums signed by all four Beatles are known to exist today. Seven are Meet the Beatles! albums.

The Meet The Beatles! album has been authenticated by the world’s leading expert, Frank Caiazzo, the only autograph authenticator in the world who specializes solely in Beatles signed and handwritten material. A signed authentication letter from Caiazzo is included with the album, verifying its provenance and authenticity.

The Meet The Beatles! album in this auction is conservatively estimated at $40,000-$45,000. “However,” said company president John Case, “this is such a rare item that the hammer price will likely be much higher. Autographs by all four Beatles on an LP from their early years are highly sought after by collectors.” As Autograph Magazine noted in an article on Jan. 25, 2011, “If you have a Beatles album signed by all four band members, you’ve got something quite valuable. Albums in good condition typically range from about $15,000 for the most common one, Please Please Me, to well over $100,000 for some of the rarest albums, especially U.S. releases … Band-signed Beatles albums are very hard to come by.”

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Saturday, Oct. 1, Case Antiques Inc. Auctions & Appraisals will gavel one of the most anticipated pieces of Beatles memorabilia to ever hit the market: a Meet The Beatles! album signed by all four Beatles at the time of their American debut on American TV. It tells the behind-the-scenes story of which the public was unaware: the illness that almost kept one of the Fab Four from being part of that legendary performance.

The album comes from the estate of Dr. Jules Gordon, a former house physician at New York’s Plaza Hotel, and will be included in Case’s Fall auction, which will take place at the company’s gallery in Knoxville. LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.

On Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964, The Beatles made their historic live debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, attracting more than 73 million viewers. But, the day before the show, there was concern that one of the band members, George Harrison, might miss the big moment because of strep throat.

Thomas Buckley noted in the New York Times on Feb. 8, 1964, “Mr. Harrison, who is known as the quiet Beatle, awoke yesterday with a sore throat. He was treated by Dr. Jules Gordon, used a vaporizer and rejoined his colleagues at the studio late in the afternoon. ‘I should be perfect for tomorrow,’ he said.”

But the situation was more serious than they let on. Photographs taken by Dezo Hoffman during the Saturday afternoon rehearsal show Neil Aspinall sitting in for Harrison. And in the book The Beatles Off The Record by Keith Badman, Harrison’s sister, Louise Caldwell, recalled: “The doctor said he couldn't do the Ed Sullivan Show because he had a temperature of 104! But they pumped him with everything. He was thinking about getting a nurse to administer the medicine, every hour on the hour. Then the doctor suddenly realized that I was there and was his sister and he said to me, ‘Would you see to it? It's probably just as well that you're here because I don't think there's a single female in the city that isn't crazy about The Beatles! You're probably the only one who could function around him normal

Comment by Greig on October 7, 2011 at 6:21am: I have a Hard Days Night Lp UK Version hand signed by John, Paul & Ringo.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 7, 2011 at 10:17pm: @Greig,

I'd love to see it.

Comment by Ranjan D on November 12, 2011 at 6:02am: Has anyone heard of a White Album, being sold in the US - This was an album with all 4 signatures, obtained over a period of 20 years. The last time I saw it was at the Art of Music, about 2 years ago, at one of the large Las Vegas casinos. There was no provenance, which was the concern!

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 12, 2011 at 9:37am: @Ranjan:

Was The Art of Music the only place you saw it? There's only one Beatles-signed White Album that we know of, a US release. It's worth well over $100,000, which is what another one would be worth unless it had significant problems. How much was The Art of Music asking for it?

Comment by Ranjan D on November 12, 2011 at 10:35am: It was over 2 years ago. I do not remember the hotel. There was a White Album with the first signature (as per staff) obtained 20 years prior. McCartney's signature had been obtained with the recent few months. I did not know anything about Beatles signatures and found this quite interesting. They were asking $12k. Within the next few days, they came down to $9k. I started to do my homework, of course, and asked them if I would get a letter from the party who obtained the autographs. Since they were obtained over 20 years, that was a logical request. They said they obtained this through a "reliable source" and did not have that information. As for the COA, they would include one (for a fee) from Chris Morales! Of course I did more homework, did actually talk to Mr. Morales, but I was very suspicious about the signatures (by this time). This item was never displayed on any of Art of Music's web sites. I am sure I got a scan of the album from them during this time. I will try to find it! I hope that helps.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 13, 2011 at 9:38pm: @Ranjan:

$9,000 for a Beatles-signed "White Album"? You have to ask, why would they sell it for $9,000 when they could get over $100,000 for it authenticated by Epperson, Caiazzo, PSA/DNA or JSA?