Expert: Pattie - 8/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi Pattie, I found your site using google for a search engine.  My Mom recently passed and today I was going thru some of her things and came across a sealed envelope telling me to find a collector.  Upon opening it there are 6 collector Beatles cards and some of them are signed by John Lennon and one is signed by George Harrison.  I have no idea what to do with these and how to find out if they hold any value.  2 are black and white, #'s 81, and 104 both signed by John Lennon.  1 in color of #55A that says its the Beatles Diary and not sure if the signature on the bottom is real or they all have John's name on it.  A #68 black and white signed by George Harrison.  Another color Beatles Diary #39A, with Georges name at the bottom but to me it doesn't look like it's a signature from him, that the card was also made that way.  And another Diary card # 45A.  Can you please offer your expertise in this and possibly guide me in what to do with these cards?  I would greatly appreciate any advise you have to offer.
Sincerely,
Lisa

ANSWER: Lisa, I'm so sorry this took so long, but I never got the notice that you had asked a follow-up question. Yes, the signatures on the cards are pre-printed with a blue "autograph". I have them myself. If you click this link, you'll see an example of one.

http://tiny.cc/signedcard

Again, sorry for the delay!

Peace,
Pattie
8^)

Hi Lisa!

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear of your recent loss. I lost my own mother in 2002 and I know it can be tough. As for the cards, well, there have been many sets of Beatle trading cards that came out over the years, mostly made by the Topps company. The earliest was a black and white set from 1964. There's also a colour set from '64. There's a set of "Diary" cards and a set of "A Hard Day's Night" cards, Sgt. Pepper cards....I could go on. They were still making Beatles trading cards in the 1990's. If what your mom left you are black and white cards with the signatures in blue, those are from the original set. I'm assuming that these cards are not actually signed by any of the Beatles, but are the pre-printed signatures, correct? Currently, individual cards in good shape are worth about $6 or $7 each for the black and white, and about $5 each for the Diary cards. It's when you have compleat sets that the price goes way up. Now, if they actually ARE personally signed by John and George, that's something else again! As far as what to do with them, well, it sounds like your mum wanted you to give them (or sell them) to a collector, so I'd suggest eBay for something like this. Or, if you have a local antique shop, they may have an interest. If you're just wanting to give them to a collector, there are tons of us out there who would give them a great home. Check Craigslist in your area and do a search on "Beatles". You may find your local collectors that way. I wish I had more information to give you. I'm probably not going to be doing any more online appraisals, so you got in under the wire LOL. If you need any other assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for the question!

Peace,
Pattie
8^)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Pattie, I just wanted to thank your time in answering my question and especially sending that link to show me a card. And yes that is what all of them look like. Kind of a bummer though. Thought my tricky little Mom had been holding onto something really terrific. I'm sure she thought it might have been worth a lot and some of me is glad that she will never know that they are only worth about 5 bucks. I think she had hopes that that they were worth enough to send my youngest son thru college! But again just thank you so much, you have been more informative than anyone I've asked (and I was emailing a lot of professionals) and by far you were "THE BEST"!
Take care,
Lisa K.

Answer
Not a problem, Lisa, I'm glad I could be of some help. And while they may not be valued high enough to put your son through college, know that you own a part of history. The Beatles wrote the soundtrack to many, many lives, mine included and those cards were well loved by your Mom, I'm sure. Keep them safe and look at them every now and then and think of her. I think she'd want that...

Peace,
Pattie
8^)