Auction House to Sell Autograph Collection / 'Jackson 5' Signatures

An autograph collection from the 1960s and 70s featuring a teenage singing and dancing sensation called Michael Jackson is set to come under the hammer in Norfolk.

A woman from Downham Market has put the collection up for auction among the effects of her late father, who worked as a security guard at TV studios.

Julia Shepherd, of Hawkins Auctioneers, said: “Her father was a doorman at London Weekend TV studios and he collected autographs for her.

“There's Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard, Sid James, Alfie Bass, Mick McManus and Wendy Craig. Michael Jackson was there with the Jackson Five.”

The collection was entered for the general sale at Hawkins, on July 22, prior to Michael Jackson's death at the age of 50, on June 25.

Auctioneer Barry Hawkins said the singer's departure made it difficult to value the collection.

“It's a total impossibility now he's dead,” he said. “We would have thought £100 or something of that sort but now the sky's the limit.”

Pop memorabilia expert Pete Cossey , who runs The Movie Shop, in Norwich's St Gregory's Alley, said: “He was quite a reclusive sort of guy in many ways, he wasn't the sort who'd get stopped in the street for autographs.

“I'd have said it could be worth quite a lot of money. Vintage autographs tend to be worth more than more modern ones: it's quite a valuable and collectable item.”

The autograph dates from the late 1960s or 1970, when Jackson first tasted fame with the Jackson Five, in which he sang with four of his brothers - Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine and Tito.

He signs himself Michael - with a smiley face above the 'i - alongside the rest of the Five . The brothers became an instant success with hits like The love You Save and I'll Be There, while the baby of the bunch with the razor sharp dance routines, Michael Jackson, left the group in 1971 to pursue a solo career at the behest of Motown Records.

Yesterday one eBay seller was listing a framed piece of paper signed by Jackson for £400.

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