I’m considering putting up some 8x10 B&W portaits of NASA’s Gemini-era astronauts. A whole set was sent to me in response to a 6th-grade fan letter, circa 1966.(I wrote hoping to get a photo of the whole gang, but they sent me individual pics of every single guy!) A few of them are autographed. I assume that, at the time, there were stacks of these photos ready to send out;some of the astronauts took the time to sign theirs, and others did not.
I have no way of verifying the authenticity of the signatures, but I assume they are genuine. I am **not ** planning to gain value by listing them as *“autographed by so-and-so” *. I was just hoping that there would be interest in a set of “official portraits”, regardless of the signatures.
If/when I list them, should I mention the autographs or not? It might be a nice surprise for the winning bidder–or maybe not. Would it be better just to leave the signed photos out of the set to avoid any negative consequences?
Why not mention them? I would. Include the backstory as you’ve outlined it here, and let the bidders decide what they’re worth. There’s nothing dishonest or unethical about that.
List them exactly the way you just described them: you wrote a letter as a kid and these pictures are what you got in return and you have no way to authenticate the autographs.
You should absolutely highlight the fact that they are signed. There are undoubtedly collectors who wouldn’t cross the street for just another picture of their favorite Gemini astronaut, but would kill for a signed photo.
For the greatest return, I would recommend selling the autographed pictures individually and the others as a set. I would imagine that the unsigned pictures have nearly no value, except for the fact that they are original NASA photos from the 1960s, not modern prints. Even so, it may be worth the minimal trouble of selling them individually.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the signed ones sold for as much as a couple hundred bucks each, depending on the popularity of the astronaut. For instance, signed pictures of Grissom, White, or Chaffee (who all died in the Apollo 1 fire) would probably command pretty hefty prices. Likewise, but to a lesser degree, any others who have since died.
For advice on how best to sell these items (for instance, eBay may not be the best place to find space buffs), I suggest getting in touch with Robert Pearlman, founder of CollectSpace.com. He’s an expert on collecting space artifacts and memorabilia and could probably give you a pretty good idea of their value, and recommendations on where to sell them.
You may want to consider a more “prestigious” auction by a specialist house.
About 8 years ago, I sold an 8x10 of the original seven Mercury astronauts (signed by all seven) for nearly $5000 through this sale:
Yes, you’ll pay more percentage than ebay–but they hit a very specialized audience, and do all the footwork for you (like answering hundreds of inquiries about the photo, signatures, etc.).