The 2024 election cycle is starting to rumble more loudly towards its finish line.
For the next couple of months two people - Donald Trump and Kamala Harris - will be put relentlessly under the spotlight.
And one of them will, probably, see their autograph rise in value on November 15, 2024.
It might not be good for democracy, but American presidents are celebrities.
Some are substantial historical figures. All wield a lot of power and garner a lot of attention.
Items related to all of them and all of their lives have some value. Even the obscurity of some adds to their collectibility.
But, in the marketplace of the collector some are more equal than others.
Here we’ve used valuations from one of the big authentication services as our benchmark. And we’ve used the value for a single autograph signed during the president’s term of office.
But, as you’ll soon see we’ve had to make one exception to those terms.
These are the most valuable American presidents autographs:
1 - William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison wouldn't wear a coat.
The one you haven’t heard of unless you collect, work in this business or love trivia quizzes.
Harrison is by no means a historical nobody.
He came from a distinguished American revolutionary family, was active militarily and politically as the young United States was shaped, and was the grandfather of another president, Benjamin Harrison.
But his term in office is remembered only for its shortness.
On March 4, 1841 he was sworn in, defying the weather to give a 2-hour speech without an overcoat.
Perhaps that caused the sickness that killed him, perhaps it was the coatless walk he took on March 24, but either way he was sick with some sort of cold by March 26 and dead by April 4.
And that means documents with Harrison’s signature on are extremely rare. And that makes them very valuable.
We’ve had to make an exception to the valuation style we use here, because there isn’t a known value for his autograph alone.
Only documents survive, and they are valued at $100,000.
2 - George Washington
POTUS number 1, George Washington, was the writer of some of the most valuable signatures in history.
In 2012 the Washington Presidential Library paid just short of $10 million to secure Washington’s personal signed copy of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and proceedings of the First Congress.
Signed early US constitutional documents are all extremely rare, and the 56-man club of signatories of the Declaration of Independence also hold a special place in the hearts of American history buffs and autograph buyers.
Washington’s signature alone is valued at $6,000 and up.
Add it to a document of almost any sort and it will be worth exponentially more.
3 - James Garfield
James Garfield died several weeks after being shot.
Another death. Another rare autograph.
James Garfield died in September 1881, while in office, and several weeks after being shot by Charles Giteau
Giteau, who would probably now be diagnosed with some form of mental illness, reportedly said: “I did it. I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur [the vice president] will be President.”
He was right about Arthur, but wrong about going to prison. He went to the gallows cursing the new president, who he believed should have reprieved him for facilitating his raised salary and new job.
Garfield was president from March 4 to September 19 of 1881.
This puts a huge premium on signatures during that period, and they are valued at $5,000.
Outside those few months, you’ll only pay a couple of hundred dollars for a Garfield autograph.
4 - Abraham Lincoln
Fame is hard to quantify, but Abraham Lincoln may still be the most famous US President.
There are lots of reasons for this. Some of them are good. Some of them say a lot about national myth building too.
The crowning achievement of Lincoln’s historical reputation, the Emancipation Proclamation that freed enslaved people in the US, is one of history’s most valuable signed documents. A copy (owned by Robert Kennedy) was sold in 2012 for $3.7 million.
And he was murdered while in office.
A great tragedy and a huge boost to the value of his signature.
A 2012 survey of movies found that Lincoln had been featured in twice as many movies as any other American president (George Washington was second). He’s even in the knockabout time-travel comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Lincoln is so recognisable, and his life coincided so nicely with the birth of photography that signed photographs of the stern-faced Kentuckian are some of the most valuable images of American presidents.
His stand-alone signature will cost you $4,500 or more.
5 - Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence.
But he did write it.
That, and other early American documents, make him not just a major US political figure but one of the biggest names in historical political philosophy with a strand of thought - Jeffersonian Democracy - named after him.
He was the third president of the US, is memorialised in Washington, on Mount Rushmore, and has been on many many US stamps and coins.
Though his reputation has been somewhat questioned lately - like all the Founders his egalitarianism didn’t extend to black people, he owned slaves and fathered children with Sally Hemings, a woman he "owned" as a slave - his signature is highly sought after.
Jefferson signatures alone are valued at $4,000.
6 - John Adams
John Adams is in a very small group of men who signed the Declaration of Independence and went on to be President of the United States.
In fact, it’s just him and Washington.
That elevates the value of his signature immediately: American buyers love the Founding Fathers. This is one case where signatures really did carry historical weight and collecting a full set of signees is a task for the ages in the autograph hunting world.
He was the first vice president, serving under Washington in that role, twice, before succeeding him to sit as president from 1797 to 1801.
He’s a seriously heavyweight figure in the philosophy of the early American republic and his life is a fascinating study.
All this means you’ll have to pay around $3,500 for his signature.
7 - John F Kennedy
JFK is the only modern president to make this list.
You know why.
Even without the tragic (and subsequently much-disputed) events of November 22, 1963 Kennedy would be remembered as a president with star power.
Though much unsavoury truth has emerged about his personal life, and association with figures like Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, Kennedy moved naturally among a new generation of high-profile people.
He was also politically consequential too, and though much of his legacy was enacted by his successors, he is associated in popular recall with the liberalising tide of the 1960s in the US.
A Kennedy signature is the only 20th century presidential one to command much value, and should cost you upward of $1,500.
8 - Zachary Taylor
Who?
Even Wikipedia quotes an assessment of Taylor’s presidential record as “more forgettable than failed”.
He didn’t really want to be a politician, but Zachary Taylor’s military successes gave him the valuable currency of name recognition and popularity (nothing is new).
So, in 1849 he was elected president.
And two years later, he was dead.
No assassin’s bullet did for Taylor, who died after a short stomach illness.
Taylor had been ambiguous about his politics even as he ran for president. And, he wasn’t an especially educated or literate man.
Perhaps this adds to the scarcity of his signature.
It’s that alone that gives it value if we’re honest, and he comes in at number 8 with a value of $1,200 per rare, poorly written (reportedly) signature.
Buy rare historical signatures now
We love historical autographs.
You’ll find lots more about them around the site.
Including our own PFC 40 Index.
And, you can see - and own for yourself - some wonderful historical autographs here.
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And President Trump (whether or not he wins again) and President Harris signatures will gain value in time.
They are unlikely to match the names on this list though. A Harris win as the first woman POTUS will have extra appeal. Trump is a star of sorts, but he also loves signing and his signature will probably always be relatively available.
