Beckett Principal Autograph authenticator Steve Grad is now bringing some of his own collection to market.
An autograph collector long before his job was to examine them, Grad has gained plenty of notoriety in recent years for his appearances on the hit show Pawn Stars.
Now, he’s excited to let some of it go to fellow collectors. He had much of it for sale at the National Sports Collectors Convention.
Grad got his start collecting autographs in his hometown of Chicago, acquiring more than 100,000 in-person autographs (yes, you read that right). He took his passion and knowledge of autographs and turned it into a successful business.
Grad built PSA’s autograph authentication division during a 15-year tenure before moving to Beckett in 2016 to spearhead the launch of Beckett Authentication Services
From music to sports to Star Wars, Grad does it all. He’s authenticated many of the finest pieces in the sports collectible hobby including the Laws of Baseball, the highest-graded Babe Ruth single-signed baseball, the only known Joe Jackson signed photograph and numerous other high-end pieces of American sports history.
Grad seemed excited about letting loose of part of his collection to the collectors and the public.
“I have stuff set aside and to be honest I’ll be 53 next week. I’m not getting any younger and I can’t take it with me. I’m not going to burden my wife or kids so let’s start selling some of it now.”
It’s day one of the @nsccshow in Chicago, visit booth 700 and GradCollection and the amazing display @stephisgreat72 put together. #gradcollection #nsccshow pic.twitter.com/nenPTk6J1B
— steve_grad (@Steve_Grad) July 26, 2023
Grad spent the National in the corporate area with Beckett as collectors dropped off items for authentication while his wife assisted collectors who perused what Grad was offering.
There were items signed by Michael Jordan, Walter Payton (in his rookie season) and Mickey Mantle, among others.
In addition to sports items, there were rare Star Wars autographs and props, signed record albums and signed pictures from the greats of Hollywood.
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