Joe D Autograph

[Andy D]

My dad just gave my son a Joe DiMaggio autograph. Seems years ago he was down Florida on Business and Joe D was staying at the same hotel. He met him in the resturant and Joe autographed a hotel napkin. My question is how do I go about finding out what it's worth
I would think I should have it insured. His autographs are rare as he never liked to give one. I know most of you guys are Red Sox fans but any help would be great. Thanks!

[The Dad Fisherman]

before you can price it you'll need to get it authenticated and acquire a certificate of authenticity.

The fact that its on a napkin, don't expect it to fetch much....probably a hundred tops. A joe dimaggio autographed baseball with COA sitting on E-bay for about $250 with 30 minutes left as I type this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JOE-DIMAGGIO-AUT...QQcmdZViewItem

and remember no matter what anybody tells you that it worth...its really only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[BigBo]

I don't know about autographed values either.
Yes, we are Red Sox fans here.
I got this one from the Splendid Splinter himself back in about '65/'66.

[Andy D]

Thanks for the info. I will get the C.O.A . I understand what your saying about it not being worth that much because it on a napkin
Still a nice thing to put up on the wall.

[Andy D]

Originally Posted by BigBo

I don't know about autographed values either.
Yes, we are Red Sox fans here.
I got this one from the Splendid Splinter himself back in about '65/'66.

Very Cool , They don't make players like Ted Williams or Joe D any more.

[BigFish]

Keep it out of the light....the uv will fade the autograph and the napkin!

[BigBo]

Yeah. Larry's right about the light. Especially with a napkin. The autograph on the ball used to be a lot darker. It's never been exposed to direct sunlight and you can see how it still faded. The ball was an actual ML ball foul hit by Ted several years earlier that my Dad had caught an given to me. I got the autograph at TW Baseball Camp when my brother and I attended as Little Leaguers so it was already dirty.

[Raider Ronnie]

Did he sign it "Mr Coffee"

[Andy D]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Did he sign it "Mr Coffee"

No but he did have Marilyn leave her lipstick print on the other side

[MrHunters]

i used to work for an autograph dealer. there are only 3 or 4 legitemate ones in the country. We did not deal is sports memorabilia accept the occasional purchase of entire collections.

I will tell you though that "the certificate of authencity" is really just the dealers opinion that it is a legitamate autograph. If they did not get it in person you are trusting their experience in that they have seen this autograph time and time again and knows the details that make it real. If you are dealing with a legit company I would trust this.

For a time I was able to spot a fake where my boss would just glance at it and chuck it. The autograph business gets a bad rap because of so many fakes on the market.

For example, if you see a britney spears on ebay for 9.99 it IS fake. She never signs so when you see a real one, it took some effort to get so your going to see a much higher price.

Anyway, the COA is an experts opinion, so make sure you do your research before you spend the bucks to get it authenticated.

If your looking to see what its worth go to http://rrauction.com and do a search. they are very picky on what they put up for auction and i would say 98% of their stuff is good

[MrHunters]

oh, and thats not the company i worked for. but we did deal with them... and they would send some of our "questionable" autographs back from time to time, so they are pretty strict

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Andy D

I would think I should have it insured. His autographs are rare as he never liked to give one. I know most of you guys are Red Sox fans but any help would be great. Thanks!

Joe D was a very strange guy. Yes, he was known as cold and aloof, especially after his very public divorce from MM. But if approached quietly and respectfully, he would sometimes accomodate autograph seekers. You didn't just walk up to him, shove a piece of paper and a ball in his lap and say, "Would you mind Mr. DiMaggio?".

There was one occasion, mentioned at the time of his death, where Joe D noticed a couple of sailors, in Navy dress uniforms, in a bar. He quietly went over to the bartender, and ordered drinks for them, wrote "Thanks for your service to our country. Joe DiMaggio" on a napkin, and had the waitress deliver everything to their table.

[Andy D]

Wasn't Ted Williams the same way or was that more to the press at the time? There's a guy I would have loved to fish with Red Sox or not.