English AudioTrack 15 Lyrics

May I have your autograph?

Is there a person whom you really admire? Wouldn't you love to have his or her autograph? You would never throw that person's autograph away. Many people feel the same way as you. However, some people collect autographs even from people they don't admire. They just want autographs from any famous person. They don't collect these autographs to keep them. They collect autographs to sell them.

Collecting autographs has become a business. In fact, there are more than 20,000 people who collect autographs. These people are willing to pay a lot of money for an autograph. Therefore, autograph hounds now hang around sports centers, concerts arenas and chic restaurants. These people try to get autographs they can sell. They can sometimes make as much as $1500 for one autograph. In fact, one very successful autograph hound earns about $100 a year. There are also companies that buy and sell autographs. One company, Profiles in History, says it has the largest collection of entertainers' autographs in the world. The company earns more than $12 million a year. One autograph may cost under $100. Other autographs can cost several thousand dollars.

The price of an autograph doesn't depend on the person's fame. It depends on how rare the autograph is. For example, famous people like Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon, sign a lot of autographs. Therefore, their autographs are not rare and are not worth very much money. On the other hand, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow rarely sign anything. This makes their autographs more rare and more valuable. Queen Elizabeth II almost never signs autographs. Therefore, something with her signature on it might sell for around $3500. It doesn't matter if the person is dead. Elvis Presley and Napoleon signed many things. Their signatures are only worth $1500. However, the signed letters form Marilyn Monroe are very rare. They can cost $50,000 each. The highest price ever paid for an autograph was $750,000. Is was for a letter written by Abraham Lincoln.