The most sought-after Beatles memorabilia are their autographs, both individually and as a group. Autographs of all four Beatles together are the most valuable.

But how common are real Beatles autographs? Unfortunately, most knowledgeable collectors will tell you, not very. It's possible that the Beatles are the most commonly forged of all autographs.

Experts believe there were only three occasions when the Beatles sat down together to sign autographs. They are:

• October 6, 1962 (one day after "Love Me Do" was released) at Dawson’s Music Shop, in Lancashire, for half an hour at 4:00 pm.

• January 24, 1963, at Brian Epstein’s NEMS Record Store (two weeks after "Please, Please Me" was released).

• December 14, 1963, at the Beatles London Fan Club Convention. Attendance was around 3,000, but few apparently did more than shake the band members’ hands, and not many autograph requests were reported. This was the only occasion on which their two early albums, Please Please Me and With the Beatles, could have been autographed.

However, Beatles groupies, known as "Apple Scruffs," used to hang around Abbey Road hoping to get an autograph from a Beatle who was coming or going, and eventually get all four signatures on an album. Some of these autograph seekers were successful, and over the years, these artifacts have turned up. In addition, there are other sources for geniune autographs, such as signatures on a letter sent by a Beatle.

One way to tell the authenticy of a Beatles signature is to compare it to a known authentic sample. Here is a picture of all four genuine Beatles autographs:

Many more examples of Beatles autographs can be found at this site.