The History Buff, Inc. - Phone: (952) 937-0325
17509 Bearpath Trail, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 or Palm Beach, FL, 33480
Original Article
RONALD REAGAN'S
AUTOGRAPHS
Ronald Wilson Reagan was a very
great American President. The high regard in which he was held
was manifest in the outpouring of love and respect from the public,
his peers and even his political opponents when he passed in
2004. Our own sentiment is best expressed in the phrase-"God,
How We Miss Him", especially now.It is no wonder then that
Reagan AUTOGRAPH material is avidly sought after by collectors.
This article will provide guidance as to what in our opinion
is the most important Reagan material that may be available to
collectors . In addition we have given estimates of the current
market prices of such items.
PRESIDENT REAGAN'S
FINAL RESTING PLCE
"Reagan
spent his entire life standing up to the bully. From boyhood
on, he interposed himself between the bully and the innocent.
He stood up to the bullies in his schools. He stood up to the
Communists in Hollywood, and to the coercive unions. He stood
up to the student radicals and their abettors. He stood up to
the Soviets." From Edmund Morris's Book Dutch.
A CAREER IS LAUNCHED
Reagan's political career was
launched at the national level when he gave what is commonly
referred to among 'Reaganophiles' as "The Speech" which
was titled " A Time for Choosing " and
which was given on behalf of Barry Goldwater at the beginning
of the 1964 campaign. The speech was quintessential Reagan--
it was delivered with élan, humor and irrefutable logic
and passion -the first hint of why later he would be called "The
Great Communicator." After that speech, Reagan sent out
several signed transcripts to friends but they are very rare
thus almost impossible to value but if one ever appears again
on the market it will sell for several thousand dollars. In 1983
Ronald Reagan wrote a book with the title taken from his seminal
speech which included other speeches through the years 1961-
1982 [A Time for Choosing: The Speeches of
Ronald Reagan (ISBN: 0895268388)]. A signed copy of the
book is $500-$750 if you can find it. There are transcripts of
'The Speech' on the internet and the Reagan Library Book Shop
has a CD of the speech although the quality is marginal. We have
never seen a quote from that speech in Reagan's hand -an AQS
according to the argot of our field. An AQS purported
to be from that speech appeared at auction last year but there
were some real questions about its authenticity (See our original
article on autograph auctions for details).
REAGAN IN HOLLYWOOD
While Ronald Reagan was an actor
there is a recently published study showing that many if not
most of his early letters, signed photos and communications with
fans, etc. prior to 1961 were actually written by his mother
Nelle (she died in 1962) [ Ronald Reagan and Nelle Reagan-
Autograph Mystery Uncovered by Claren, Koschal and Werntz
, Rainbow Press, Boynton Beach, FL].*** This study was important
because it established for the first time the characteristics
of Nelle's handwriting and confirmed the rumors about his mother's
involvement as his amanuensis which actually had never been documented.
Collectors Beware - several collections of purported early
Ronald Reagan letters have been sold AT HIGH prices and this
study suggests THESE LETTERS MAY HAVE BEEN written at least in
large part by Nelle. At the very time this book first appeared
a leading autograph dealer had a early Ronald Reagan that was
actually written by his mother sale for sale for $10,000 on his
web site.
***COPIES OF STUDY DOCUMENTING
NELLE REAGAN'S HANDWRITING CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE HISTORY BUFF,
INC. FOR $10.00 +SHIPPING
GOVERNOR
As Governor of California Reagan
made liberal use of the autopen and secretarial signers. There
are several good studies on his autopen patterns and proxy signers
on the web site: http:// www.isitreal.com. Of particular
interest and well illustrated on www.isitreal.com are
the signings of his secretary Helen(e) Van Damm who was a good
approximator of Reagan's signature and handwriting. There are
many signed letters , photographs, etc. from this time that are
of no great historical importance but they are fun to collect
for the collector of generic material. The question in all such
items is determining authenticity. The only items of importance
likely to surface from this period would be something written
with good content, especially if Reagan's thoughts in the letter
later morphed into public policy or if such a letter or note
contained material related to his seeking high office. His role
in the Screen Actors Guild fight against communism or details
about the nefarious Hollywood Ten are also of historical interest
but seldom if ever come to the collector market.
FIRST BOOK
Reagan published his first book
"Where is the Rest of Me" (NY:
Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1965). The title was based on a line
he used in the 1942 movie King's Row where he played a carefree
playboy who lost both legs in a railroad accident. The book chronicles
his odyssey from left to right politically. The book signed by
Reagan is much sought after and, depending on the edition, dust
jacket and condition it will bring $750.00-$2000 or even more(4
ARE NOW LISTED ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE THAN 2 K) from Reagan
collectors.
AUTOGRAPHED QUOTES SIGNED
As was implied earlier, autograph
quotes signed,(AQS's) all in Reagan's hand are very desirable
( HERE). But, collectors
need to be wary of so-called 'manufactured' quotes. These quotes
are 'made' by taking a sheet of paper or card signed by Reagan
and then applying a typed quote or having the 
quote done
in calligraphy usually above the signature to give the impression
that Reagan actually signed the quote. The practice of 'manufacturing'
items is unethical and knowledgeable collectors avoid such artifices.
These quotes are historically worthless and should carry only
the value of a Reagan signature-if that. Authentic quotes from
one of Presidents Reagan's major speeches often bring $3-5,000
at auction. The 'Holy Grail' among Reagan AQS's is "Mr.
Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!" .
There are a very few of these AQS's around but there also is
a significant number of forgeries because of the value. Right
now, if you could find one, an authentic 'Wall' quote would bring
between $5,000 and $10,000. If the quote is affixed to a photograph
of Reagan giving his speech at the Brandenburg Gate then that
item is priceless. Again because of the value, you frequently
see the phrase as a 'manufactured' quote. This is and will remain
Reagan's iconic pronouncement for the ages.
BOOKS AS PRESIDENT AND AFTER
President Reagan wrote three
well known books during and after his presidency. The first was
his book on abortion-Abortion
and the Conscience of the Nation (ISBN: 0840741162).In
a nation that has killed forty million or so innocent unborn
children, President Reagan is the only President to have written
on the subject of Abortion. What most collectors do not know
is that there is one iteration of this book that is very rare
and thus the most desirable. President Reagan visited the publisher
as the book was becoming available and he signed a few of the
First, Firsts very meticulously in the middle of the first blank
end paper using a black sharpie. But all versions of this book
signed are very hard to find and sell for $1000-$2000. Following
his presidency he of course wrote "An American Life" and
"Speaking
My Mind."These
books are most desirable as First, Firsts with intact dust jackets
(not price clipped) and when signed (without an inscription)
on the title page or a free end paper and not on a bookplate.
Technically, a bookplate signed book is not a signed book and
advanced collectors find them less desirable. Excluding the special
boxed or leather bound editions, these books often sell between
$1500 and $3000. For the most part we recommend against the special
editions because it is well known that the signatures are done
prior to the book being bound and are inserted during the manufacturing
(of the book). Again these technically are not signed books but
they are very attractive for display.
WHITE HOUSE CARDS
A popular area for collecting
is Presidential White House Cards . These little gems are much
sought after and often bring very high prices. The problem
is, that Ronald Reagan did not use or have White House Cards.
In fact we have never seen an authentic Reagan WHC. Apparently
SOME forgers do not know this simple fact so you frequently see
WHC forgeries for sale. In fact one sold at a major auction last
year accompanied by a bogus story of the history of the item.
In addition, Reagan did sign some souvenir WHC's after he left
the White House and these are mainly what comes to market: they
should be avoided. Or, you find SOUVENIER OF MOCK Reagan WHC's
for sale but when you read the description here is what you find:
"Signed 4 x 2.75
mock White House card, boldly signed in black ink 'Ronald Reagan."
The operative word in this listing
is MOCK.These
border on being 'manufactured' items (see below).
SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS
President Reagan was very photogenic
and many authentically signed photographs of him are on the 
market. However,
there are several that stand out. One is a beautiful portrait
(left) that was taken while he was working for GE. The other
is 'The Great One' on his white
horse Alamaine at the ranch.The third is a very rare
Black and White, prize-winning photograph titled 'Modern
Day Rushmore' taken of the four presidents when they
gathered at the White House prior to Sadat's funeral. One of
the most humorous is the photograph of President Reagan and Gorbachev
at the ranch in cowboy hats-the only problem is that Gorbachev's
hat is on backwards. Well, just being communist is getting life
backwards!!! With the exception of the aforementioned B&W
prize-winning photograph, signed photographs sell from a few
hundred dollars to $1,200. Most collectors prefer a photograph
signed but not inscribed.. However we like to see inscriptions
on any autograph item because that provides more writing on which
to judge authenticity. There are very few if any of the 'Rushmore'
photographs on the market.
CABINET
One item of particular interest
to presidential collectors are collections of cabinet members
of a given administration. Probably the most important cabinet of the Reagan Administration
was the first or 1981 cabinet. Signed photographs of this
cabinet are very desirable and sell around $6-7,000. These are
very scarce and they contain some very rare autographs of great
American patriots such as Allen , Casey, Weinberger and Kirkpatrick
who, after all, won or were instrumental in winning the Cold
War and who now are gone.
THE ALZHEIMER LETTER
In November of 1994 President
Reagan began his decade-long withdrawal from his conscious life
because of the dread Alzheimer's Disease. He made the announcement
of his affliction on November 4th, 2004 when he read his famous
'Farewell' letter'
to the people and country he loved so deeply. The original copy
of that letter hangs in The Reagan Library but there were several
copies made on that day that were signed by The President. These
signed copies were subsequently sold to benefit the local chapter
of the Alzheimer's Society. We have seen many forgeries of this
letter and most had their origin in two dealers, both well known
scoundrels. There is a trick to identifying the legitimate copies
of the Alzheimer letter so if a collector finds one we would
be more than happy to offer an opinion as to its authenticity.
We obtained one of the originals and have multiple images in
our files as exemplars.
CAVEAT
One final point. The Office of
the Inspector General conducted an audit of the Presidential
Library System recently and what they found was quite disturbing.
In essence in many of the individual libraries they found inadequate
and sloppy record keeping, poor techniques for conserving the
items, inadequate staffing as well as other assorted deficiencies.
In the case of the Reagan Library, the Library staff was only
able to find approximately one fifth of the items they were suppose
to have in their archives so the question was raised as to whether
many of their items had been stolen . The implication of that
assertion for collectors is ---you must be certain as to the
source of any thing you buy in the way of historically significant
Reagan collectibles. The last thing any collector wants is to
get involved in a replevin action where the United States Government
claims that something they thought they owned actually belongs
to the Government because it was stolen. You won't go to jail
but you may loose your property through no fault of our own.
SUMMARY
MANY OF RONALD REAGAN'S EARLY
LETTERS AND SIGNATURE PRIOR TO 1962 WERE DONE BY HIS MOTHER NELLE.
CERTAIN REAGAN BOOKS SUCH AS WHERE IS THE REST OF ME AND
ABORTION -THE CONSCIENCE OF A NATION ARE RARE AND VALUABLE.
RONALD REAGAN DID NOT USE WHITE HOUSE CARDS. AUTOGRAPH QUOTES
SIGNED BY PRESIDENT REAGAN ARE VALUABLE AND WONDERFUL TO OWN.
THE PENULTIMATE REAGAN COLLECTIBLE IS HIS "MR. GORBACHEV
TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!" QUOTE IN HIS OWN HAND AND ESPECIALLY
IF AFFIXED TO A PHOTOGRAPH OF REAGAN AT THE BRANDENBURG GATE.
KNOW YOUR SOURCE FOR REAGAN MATERIAL TO MAKE SURE THE SELLER
HAS CLEAR TITLE.
|
Ronald Wilson Reagan was a very great American President. The high regard in which he was held was manifest in the outpouring of love and respect from the public, his peers and even his political opponents when he passed in 2004. Our own sentiment is best expressed in the phrase-"God, How We Miss Him", especially now.It is no wonder then that Reagan AUTOGRAPH material is avidly sought after by collectors. This article will provide guidance as to what in our opinion is the most important Reagan material that may be available to collectors . In addition we have given estimates of the current market prices of such items. A CAREER IS LAUNCHED Reagan's political career was launched at the national level when he gave what is commonly referred to among 'Reaganophiles' as "The Speech" which was titled " A Time for Choosing " and which was given on behalf of Barry Goldwater at the beginning of the 1964 campaign. The speech was quintessential Reagan-- it was delivered with élan, humor and irrefutable logic and passion -the first hint of why later he would be called "The Great Communicator." After that speech, Reagan sent out several signed transcripts to friends but they are very rare thus almost impossible to value but if one ever appears again on the market it will sell for several thousand dollars. In 1983 Ronald Reagan wrote a book with the title taken from his seminal speech which included other speeches through the years 1961- 1982 [A Time for Choosing: The Speeches of Ronald Reagan (ISBN: 0895268388)]. A signed copy of the book is $500-$750 if you can find it. There are transcripts of 'The Speech' on the internet and the Reagan Library Book Shop has a CD of the speech although the quality is marginal. We have never seen a quote from that speech in Reagan's hand -an AQS according to the argot of our field. An AQS purported to be from that speech appeared at auction last year but there were some real questions about its authenticity (See our original article on autograph auctions for details). REAGAN IN HOLLYWOOD While Ronald Reagan was an actor there is a recently published study showing that many if not most of his early letters, signed photos and communications with fans, etc. prior to 1961 were actually written by his mother Nelle (she died in 1962) [ Ronald Reagan and Nelle Reagan- Autograph Mystery Uncovered by Claren, Koschal and Werntz , Rainbow Press, Boynton Beach, FL].*** This study was important because it established for the first time the characteristics of Nelle's handwriting and confirmed the rumors about his mother's involvement as his amanuensis which actually had never been documented. Collectors Beware - several collections of purported early Ronald Reagan letters have been sold AT HIGH prices and this study suggests THESE LETTERS MAY HAVE BEEN written at least in large part by Nelle. At the very time this book first appeared a leading autograph dealer had a early Ronald Reagan that was actually written by his mother sale for sale for $10,000 on his web site. ***COPIES OF STUDY DOCUMENTING NELLE REAGAN'S HANDWRITING CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE HISTORY BUFF, INC. FOR $10.00 +SHIPPING GOVERNOR As Governor of California Reagan made liberal use of the autopen and secretarial signers. There are several good studies on his autopen patterns and proxy signers on the web site: http:// www.isitreal.com. Of particular interest and well illustrated on www.isitreal.com are the signings of his secretary Helen(e) Van Damm who was a good approximator of Reagan's signature and handwriting. There are many signed letters , photographs, etc. from this time that are of no great historical importance but they are fun to collect for the collector of generic material. The question in all such items is determining authenticity. The only items of importance likely to surface from this period would be something written with good content, especially if Reagan's thoughts in the letter later morphed into public policy or if such a letter or note contained material related to his seeking high office. His role in the Screen Actors Guild fight against communism or details about the nefarious Hollywood Ten are also of historical interest but seldom if ever come to the collector market. FIRST BOOK Reagan published his first book "Where is the Rest of Me" (NY: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1965). The title was based on a line he used in the 1942 movie King's Row where he played a carefree playboy who lost both legs in a railroad accident. The book chronicles his odyssey from left to right politically. The book signed by Reagan is much sought after and, depending on the edition, dust jacket and condition it will bring $750.00-$2000 or even more(4 ARE NOW LISTED ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE THAN 2 K) from Reagan collectors. AUTOGRAPHED QUOTES SIGNED As was implied earlier, autograph
quotes signed,(AQS's) all in Reagan's hand are very desirable
( HERE). But, collectors
need to be wary of so-called 'manufactured' quotes. These quotes
are 'made' by taking a sheet of paper or card signed by Reagan
and then applying a typed quote or having the BOOKS AS PRESIDENT AND AFTER President Reagan wrote three well known books during and after his presidency. The first was his book on abortion-Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (ISBN: 0840741162).In a nation that has killed forty million or so innocent unborn children, President Reagan is the only President to have written on the subject of Abortion. What most collectors do not know is that there is one iteration of this book that is very rare and thus the most desirable. President Reagan visited the publisher as the book was becoming available and he signed a few of the First, Firsts very meticulously in the middle of the first blank end paper using a black sharpie. But all versions of this book signed are very hard to find and sell for $1000-$2000. Following his presidency he of course wrote "An American Life" and "Speaking My Mind."These books are most desirable as First, Firsts with intact dust jackets (not price clipped) and when signed (without an inscription) on the title page or a free end paper and not on a bookplate. Technically, a bookplate signed book is not a signed book and advanced collectors find them less desirable. Excluding the special boxed or leather bound editions, these books often sell between $1500 and $3000. For the most part we recommend against the special editions because it is well known that the signatures are done prior to the book being bound and are inserted during the manufacturing (of the book). Again these technically are not signed books but they are very attractive for display. WHITE HOUSE CARDS A popular area for collecting is Presidential White House Cards . These little gems are much sought after and often bring very high prices. The problem is, that Ronald Reagan did not use or have White House Cards. In fact we have never seen an authentic Reagan WHC. Apparently SOME forgers do not know this simple fact so you frequently see WHC forgeries for sale. In fact one sold at a major auction last year accompanied by a bogus story of the history of the item. In addition, Reagan did sign some souvenir WHC's after he left the White House and these are mainly what comes to market: they should be avoided. Or, you find SOUVENIER OF MOCK Reagan WHC's for sale but when you read the description here is what you find: The operative word in this listing is MOCK.These border on being 'manufactured' items (see below). SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS President Reagan was very photogenic
and many authentically signed photographs of him are on the CABINET One item of particular interest to presidential collectors are collections of cabinet members of a given administration. Probably the most important cabinet of the Reagan Administration was the first or 1981 cabinet. Signed photographs of this cabinet are very desirable and sell around $6-7,000. These are very scarce and they contain some very rare autographs of great American patriots such as Allen , Casey, Weinberger and Kirkpatrick who, after all, won or were instrumental in winning the Cold War and who now are gone. THE ALZHEIMER LETTER In November of 1994 President Reagan began his decade-long withdrawal from his conscious life because of the dread Alzheimer's Disease. He made the announcement of his affliction on November 4th, 2004 when he read his famous 'Farewell' letter' to the people and country he loved so deeply. The original copy of that letter hangs in The Reagan Library but there were several copies made on that day that were signed by The President. These signed copies were subsequently sold to benefit the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Society. We have seen many forgeries of this letter and most had their origin in two dealers, both well known scoundrels. There is a trick to identifying the legitimate copies of the Alzheimer letter so if a collector finds one we would be more than happy to offer an opinion as to its authenticity. We obtained one of the originals and have multiple images in our files as exemplars. CAVEAT One final point. The Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the Presidential Library System recently and what they found was quite disturbing. In essence in many of the individual libraries they found inadequate and sloppy record keeping, poor techniques for conserving the items, inadequate staffing as well as other assorted deficiencies. In the case of the Reagan Library, the Library staff was only able to find approximately one fifth of the items they were suppose to have in their archives so the question was raised as to whether many of their items had been stolen . The implication of that assertion for collectors is ---you must be certain as to the source of any thing you buy in the way of historically significant Reagan collectibles. The last thing any collector wants is to get involved in a replevin action where the United States Government claims that something they thought they owned actually belongs to the Government because it was stolen. You won't go to jail but you may loose your property through no fault of our own. SUMMARY MANY OF RONALD REAGAN'S EARLY LETTERS AND SIGNATURE PRIOR TO 1962 WERE DONE BY HIS MOTHER NELLE. CERTAIN REAGAN BOOKS SUCH AS WHERE IS THE REST OF ME AND ABORTION -THE CONSCIENCE OF A NATION ARE RARE AND VALUABLE. RONALD REAGAN DID NOT USE WHITE HOUSE CARDS. AUTOGRAPH QUOTES SIGNED BY PRESIDENT REAGAN ARE VALUABLE AND WONDERFUL TO OWN. THE PENULTIMATE REAGAN COLLECTIBLE IS HIS "MR. GORBACHEV TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!" QUOTE IN HIS OWN HAND AND ESPECIALLY IF AFFIXED TO A PHOTOGRAPH OF REAGAN AT THE BRANDENBURG GATE. KNOW YOUR SOURCE FOR REAGAN MATERIAL TO MAKE SURE THE SELLER HAS CLEAR TITLE.
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952-937-0325  |
