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Authenticity is Everything
Value of signed Menu, The Imperial, Torquay, 18th August 1963
Hi, My dad went to work , age 15 at The Imperial Hotel, Torquay , England, summer of 1963.
The Beatles only concert appearance in the seaside town of Torquay and they performed at the Princess Theatre.
My dad served the Beatles in the restaurant and chatted quite a lot with them.He told me that he took a menu from the restaurant and later , after work, went to their hotel rooms, knocked on the doors and they all signed the menu for him. He told me that John and Paul were in one room and Ringo and George in adjoining room. There was no security, he was invited into their rooms, chatted an then left with the menu.
My dad has since passed and I am wondering what the value of this original dated menu would be worth if I was to sell this.
Thanks
Julie
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Julie Tipling on
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That's interesting- Chorley is only about 1 hour drive away from me.
Thank you
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Permalink Reply by Marc Koenig on
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Lots of great advice. I’m new to the forum and pretty new to Beatles autograph collecting and I’m really appreciating this site. I agree with the comments about the possible added value by selling through somebody like Perry, given his reputation and his following. Your personal provenance is great and that history makes it more appealing to me and others. However, without a COA from somebody like Perry, tracks or Ciazzo, I and others are much more likely to be very cautious. I just made my very first Beatles full set autograph purchase and purchased it directly from Ciazzo’s site, because I personally need the confidence that comes with his reputation, even if I have to pay a little more. Anyway, you have a great piece, it comes with a great story and I and many others would love to own it. I look forward to hearing how it transpires for you.
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Hi Marc, I have also learnt so much, people have been very supportive.
What is a COA? What does it bring? Who gives these?
I know if we were to sell , we would love it to go to someone who would appreciate it because it was a part of my dads life and we had so many family chats about it.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Halloran on
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The easiest way to explain a COA is a sense of comfort for most. In regards to a COA (for vintage Beatle's collectors primarily) a letter of authenticity from Frank Caiazzo, Tracks, and Perry Cox is like getting an expert in the field of Beatle's autographs signing off that they believe in the authenticity of the piece and put their reputation behind it.
Now many people (on here especially) are pretty good on doing their own research and a coa can be meaningless if you know that the piece you are buying is without a shadow of a doubt authentic.
To the general public the opinion of an expert in the field gives you an extra boost in that belief, but also makes it easier to resell.
There are others like Roger Epperson (www.signedsealeddel.com) that are highly respected, he specializes in music autographs as well.
While I like Tracks for their items they sell and highly regarded, as I said before, that they would low ball you on the purchase mainly because they will resell it themselves.
Your best bet would be to see if you could get them to issue a loa (for a fee if they would) so that you could sell it yourself with a bit more backing with their coa or try to sell it on your own either in an auction or to an individual who really wouldn't need a coa.
I would suggest getting as much information together on it as well, as provenance and history can be very important to many buyers.
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Permalink Reply by fab432 on
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COA or LOA = certificate of authenticity or letter of authenticity
Sellers like Frank Caiazzo. Perry Cox and or Tracks sell items with their COA which is their guarantee that the item is genuine / authentic. With so many forgeries out there most buyers won't spend the big bucks on signed items unless it comes with a COA from a reputable seller. I'm not sure how much a COA costs these days if you can even get one. You could ask Perry or Tracks for that info.
As said before your item has great provenance and for most of the members on this forum no COA would not be a deal breaker.
I think you should decide what sale price would make you happy and offer it for sale here at that price. Don't worry about what you could have got from somewhere else as that can drive you crazy. If you think it could make $8 or $9k offer it at $8500 or best offer.
If you need to ship it send it one day courier so it gets to the buyer quickly and you have a record of delivery. It's not hard to do this you just need to say what price do I want to get for it.
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Permalink Reply by michelle on
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tracks uk no longer issue coas unless they are selling the item and my understanding is that Perry usually no longer does either so I think fabs advice about deciding what kind of sale price you want and then offering it is a really good one;- its a lovely item and many people will want to own it because of the feel good story associated with it
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Julie, it stands for Certificate of Authenticity, such as would be provided by Frank Ciazzo, Tracks, and Perry Cox, if they were selling them. There certainly may be other sources that provide COA’s that can be trusted but others on here could speak to that better than I. In contrast, there are certainly COA’s out there from organizations that probably can’t be trusted for Beatles autographs and also fake COA’s or even possibly forged COAs.
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Hi, I emailed Tracks after your advice and they have offered to buy the autographs but it is a lower price than I wished.
I am going to see if I can find any other old photo's, provenance and ask his sisters/ family and then take it from there. We are not in a rush to sell and Ill come back with an update soon.
Julie
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Unless someone here knows better otherwise, if I was you I would also contact Frank Ciazzo at “Beatles Autographs”, as you have did with Tracks. I have interacted with his assistant, Joseph, whom I found to be very helpful and responsive. I know he no longer provides authentication services for the general public anymore but he does buy and resell items. I have been told that he buys and sells with a lesser margin than some dealers and perhaps therefore may offer you a more competitive price. Worth a try, perhaps.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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That's a good idea. Frank is more likely to take it on consignment, too.
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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on
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Julie,
If this meeting with the Beatles meant so much to your Dad that he wanted it mentioned at his funeral I would think long and hard about selling. It may be that neither you nor your siblings are "collector types" but it does seem a bit of a shame to sell it. Can't one of you buy the others out once you get a few valuations/offers? The value of this item is highly unlikely to go down in our lifetimes so the family member buying it will also have a nice investment.
If you do sell I would do so via a private deal or eBay. Dealers have to make a living so they probably won't give you much more than half what they will sell it for. With auctions it is much the same as the cash you receive will probably be 50-60% of the price paid by the buyer (buyer's and seller's premiums being around 15-25% each). I would imagine it would be tough to clear £2,500 by selling to a dealer or through an auction house but I'm sure the price would be higher than that on eBay, even without third party authentication (assuming eBay allow it to be listed without).
Another advantage of selling it yourself is that you might be able to build up something of a rapport with the buyer and at least then know that it has gone to a good home.
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