Edison signed check

[Scott]

No affiliation. A cool piece for the very serious collector with $1000.00 laying around.

Scott

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/clt/4582798699.html

[52089]

Very overpriced. These checks were sold by the dozen in the 1970s for $20-$30 per check. There are a few thousand of them floating around. Current fair retail for an unframed check is around $600-$700, occasionally available for less.

Corporate meeting minutes and promissory notes signed by TAE are also available in the same price range.

[estott]

Stock certificates in his various enterprises are also in good supply.

[52089]

Stock certificates in his various enterprises are also in good supply.

Yes, but these frequently show up with forged or secretarial signatures, so they are best avoided by the beginner.

[TinfoilPhono]

I don't know what is going on with Edison-signed material these days. For the past couple of years there are dozens upon dozens of listings of signed photos, Botonical [sic] Research Co. checks, corporate minutes, etc. etc. all being offered on eBay at truly insane prices, well into the thousands of dollars. Far beyond what has long been a fairly stable market level (as gauged by prices of professional autograph dealers). I don't know if some people are conspiring to inflate values, or if one misguided soul sparked a flurry of copycats, but whatever started it I keep seeing the exact same pieces over and over, month after month. I don't understand why people haven't gotten a clue yet.

I wish they were really worth the prices asked. I'd be rich....

A vast trove of canceled checks and corporate minute books were literally salvaged from the trash at the Charles Edison estate in the 70s. As 52089 correctly points out, these sold for pittances originally. Over time they've been absorbed into the market and prices have gone up a lot, but as recently as 5 years ago the Botonical Research checks turned up routinely on eBay for $350 or so. Now they tend to run $600 or so, at least for those that actually (apparently anyway) sell, as opposed to being relisted endlessly. As Edison memorabilia goes, they are among the most common of all. Ditto for corporate minutes.

I consider it a terrible shame that those minute books were all torn apart. They could be of enormous value to researchers. I wish they had gone to the Edison Papers Project to be archived.

If you want truly rare Edison signed material just try to find anything dated prior to the invention of the phonograph, before he became a celebrity. That changed quickly when the phonograph hit the news. By April 1878 he started to complain about being hounded by autograph seekers.

In his late years he apparently enjoyed giving out autographs since by far the most common signed cards or photos date to the 1920s.

[estott]

Stock certificates in his various enterprises are also in good supply.

Yes, but these frequently show up with forged or secretarial signatures, so they are best avoided by the beginner.

Even if they are not genuine signatures they are of interest.

OT, but I remember when a lot of stuff related to his Multiplex Telegraph Co. turned up. Even though it was from after he sold it to Western Union his name was all over it. One of his earliest profitable inventions.

[Curt A]

It's obviously overpriced - the check is only for $159.31...