Autographs, Ephemera & Posters

Overview

Signatures of celebrities have a unique place in the hearts of many collectors and autographs with great provenance can perform like true stars at auction.

Global superstars whose autographs have featured in our sales at The Lichfield Auction Centre have included The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Sean Connery and Michael Caine.

UK household names are also popular, with successful sales featuring signatures of stars from Only Fools And Horses, Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Many take the form of a signed photograph of the artist in question or are included in a treasured autograph book; some appear on letters, notes or theatre programmes

Yet it is the story behind every autograph which can not only provide great provenance but stir up worldwide interest.

Examples include an unknown melody written and signed by Sir Edward Elgar, discovered by Richard Winterton inside an autograph book, and autographs signed by The Beatles on the day they received their MBEs.

The Elgar manuscript sold for £5,400 and the autograph book, which contained approximately 69 signatures from 1923 and 1924 including five Prime Ministers, Field Marshal Earl Haig, Charlie Chaplin and authors Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Sir JM Barrie and Rudyard Kipling, sold for £3,600.

A lifelong Beatles fan from Staffordshire bought the Fab Four MBE autographs for £7,400 and said the purchase fulfilled a ‘lifetime’s ambition’.

In the world of sports, Leicester City and Stoke City football contracts signed by Gordon Banks OBE during the pivotal time in his career leading up to the 1966 World Cup and the 1970 tournament, where he made one of the game’s greatest-ever saves to stop Pelé scoring, fetched £8,900 at auction.

Other ephemera to write home about includes postcards showing local and international landmarks, such as a treasure trove of Cumbria and Lake District postcards which realised £5,500 at auction. The archive showcased the Lake District’s rich heritage from the Edwardian era to the mid-20th century.

Also popular are in our regular auctions are cigarette cards, historical indentures and movie posters, such as a James Bond 1964 Goldfinger cinema poster by Robert Brownjohn discovered in Tamworth. the rare ‘Style B’ poster sold for £6,700 – thought to be the highest price ever paid at auction.