
Many later collectors wanted to one-up Scaurus' collection by dedicating their own collections to official state institutions.

He sought after these rings to add to his own personal collection, and his interest started a trend of people collecting, rather than using, the rings. The Dictator Sulla's son-in-law, Scaurus, was one of the earliest collectors. Each of these rings bore a mark specific to the individual who wore it.

They would drip wax onto the envelope, then press a ring into the wax before it hardened. Some of the first inclinations of autograph collections began with the signet rings Romans used to seal documents with wax. We'll even highlight a few particularly interesting stories related to autographs, some funny, and some tragic.įor many people, autograph collecting has its roots way back to ancient Roman times, but those ancient autographs didn't look like the autographs we think of when we talk about things like “ getting baseballs signed by Willie Mays.” Take a walk with us through the history of autographs, where we'll find out how this fascination started, and how it has evolved. It has a history that extends almost as far back as recorded time itself. However, have you ever thought to ask yourself who the first person was to express this thought? More importantly, who was the first person who took it seriously and said, "Yeah, I am going to make this worth something someday."Ĭollectors, autograph hounds, or however you identify yourself, if your thing is collecting signatures from the famous and extraordinary folks of our day, and days gone by, this didn't just emerge out of nowhere. If you're anything like most sports memorabilia collectors, that number is countless.

How many times have you heard a variation of that sentiment, or even said it yourself? It's going to be worth a lot of money someday."
