What Is My Mother Teresa Autograph Worth?

“What is my Mother Teresa autograph worth?” That’s not a question we get very often. Ditto for “Where is the best place to sell my Mother Teresa autograph near me?” The good news, though, is that Orion’s Attic can help you with both!

Check out our newest video for the answer about the value of your Saint Mother Teresa autograph. We were lucky enough to foster parent one many years ago and still regret not adopting it.

Don’t like watching videos? Strange, but ok. Here’s a transcription.

Hello, hello, hello. I am Chris Lancette, and today I’m answering the question, what is my mother Teresa autograph worth?

Not many people have Mother Teresa autographs

Now, there are not many of you who probably have these autographs, but if you do, or even if you don’t, this is a good story. I’m a little bit choked up at the moment because I’m thinking about the handwritten letter from Mother Teresa that we bought in Washington D.C. many years ago and ultimately sold through Freeman’s auction in Philadelphia. In our career as antiques and collectibles dealers, and now estate liquidators, I don’t have a whole lot of regrets, but I’m still sometimes pained by the things that I actually let go. Things that had, had I found them later in our career when we were far more successful, I wouldn’t have sold. I would’ve held onto them.

But if you are someone who is buying and not reselling, you’re not a dealer doing this for a living; You’re a hobbyist who’s buying stuff and collecting.

Text of a beautiful letter from Mother Teresa written to a man in Washington, D.C.

So we had to let the letter go, but I’ve never forgotten it. The letter was one that Mother Teresa wrote to a gentleman named Gerald Wagner. We obtained the letter from his son. The letter reads:

“December 21st, 1975. Dear Mr. GG Wagner, many thanks for your handwritten letter of 11, 11 75. I’m glad you were happy that all went well at the un. I must tell you, I felt like a fish out of water in that crowd of businessmen and leaders. I never feel like that with crowds much greater, but closer of our kind, the lepers, the dying, the unwanted, the helpless, the unloved, the lonely. Thank you for inviting me. For I have a better understanding of the rich who day after day have to accept the role of entertaining and being entertained. These gatherings need the presence of Jesus very much happy and holy Christmas and God’s blessing on 1976.

“Pray for me as I do for you. God bless you, Mother Teresa.”

Now, when I first read this letter in her handwriting, I thought it read,  “These gatherings heed the presence of Jesus. And I might argue it still says that. And I thought there was a little hint of sarcasm and humor, and there certainly is in the previous paragraph. And when you think of Mother Teresa, not too many people think of sense of humor. This is just a beautiful, precious letter.

Handwritten letters are the best kinds of autographs there are

We bought it at a very fair price. And then when we sold it through Freeman’s, probably back in 2012, if I had to guess. It sold for $2,000 at that time. Now, this is a handwritten letter. In the autograph world, there’s just nothing better than a handwritten letter — versus a typed letter that may be hand signed. This is handwritten, hand signed, very personal.

I’ve often wondered what happened to that letter, and this morning I found a reference on an old blog post on a Mormon site. I think the post was by someone who had seen the letter, (now in possession of the person) who apparently purchased it from Freeman’s. I would love to track that person down. I’ve already sent a note to the person who wrote the blog post to find out how much it would cost me to buy back.

Examining the range of values for Mother Teresa signatures

But when you look at the value of Mother Teresa autographs, you’ll find that her typed letters that she signed typically sell in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. But for handwritten letters that are signed, particularly more lengthy letters like this, $2,000 would be the floor today. And my guess is that the more reasonable price that someone would have to pay for a letter like this today would be $4,000. There are examples of other letters that she has written where they’re selling for $4,000 to $4,000-plus. Some people are asking $6,000.

At the end of the day, what is the value of a Mother Teresa autograph? (What is my Mother Teresa autograph worth?) It depends on whether we’re talking about a letter that’s been handwritten, a letter that’s been typed, or simply a signature on a card that would go for less. Sometimes just a few hundred dollars.

Our regrets about selling the historic autograph instead of keeping it

But the great thing about this business is just the amazing things that we sometimes stumble into.

I am not a particularly religious person in a traditional sense. I’m a spiritual guy with a great connection to a supreme power, a strong belief that we’re all connected and we’re all one, and we’re all a part of God, and God is a part of us. It doesn’t really have anything to do with Orion’s Attic. Just went off on a little tangent there. My point is this letter — I think about it all the time. It’s one of the ones that got away. I wish I could buy it back.

I think of Mother Teresa and I think of heroines and the great people who have walked this earth, and she’s certainly one of them. I miss this letter. I miss the memory of her, but I relish in the fact, at least for a moment, I got to walk a few footsteps with her. Too bad it will cost me a fortune to buy it back if I ever do find it.

But if you got this letter, I’d love to hear from you. Otherwise, if you’ve got one that you’re looking to sell, you’re going to do very well with it. Stay tuned. For more videos like this, subscribe to Orion’s Attic TV.

Got some great stuff including historical autographs and memorabilia that you would like to sell?

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