Mortality and value

[MilBraves]

Let me preface this post with a note that I do not wish death on any of the players whose memorabilia I posses :)

How much does the death of a well known Hall of Famer typically affect the value of his memorabilia? For instance, if Hank Aaron passed away tomorrow God forbid, what do you think would happen to the value of signed items or cards from him? I know they would go up, but typically by how much? How long would the increase last? etc.

[perezfan]

It depends largely on how prolific a signer the person in question was...

In the case of Aaron, Mays, Musial, Berra (or someone like that) prices would rise about 25 - 30% for a short while, and a flood of autos would hit ebay in the subsequent days after the player's passing. Unfortunately, dozens of dealers/collectors would attempt to capitalize on the player's death.

After about a month, prices would come back down, and settle in perhaps 10 - 15% higher than before. If the player in question was NOT a prolific signer (which does not apply to many HOFers these days), then the prices might settle in higher.

This has been my experience, and has applied to recently deceased players like Williams, DiMaggio, Mathews, Reese, Rizzuto, Spahn, Wilhelm, etc. It applies to top-tier HOFers as well as marginal ones. Mantle has gone up by a greater percentage, but there's a "stigma" attached to him (which does not apply to many others).

Eager to hear what others say, and hope this is helpful...

[kt4hx]

Would it be correct to think that how long a player has been deceased would also impact the longer term market value? Even if someone was a prolific signer, after the initial surge and fallback in value, wouldn't the value then increase continue to increase over time as we get further away from the time when they last signed?

[Jewish-collector]

Koufax autographs would go thru the roof because he is not a prolific signer.

[Scott Garner]

Koufax autographs would go thru the roof because he is not a prolific signer.

Alan,
Do you really believe that Koufax's autograph price would "go through the roof" from his current asking price of over $500 for a flat? YIKES!! :eek:

IMHO he's already priced himself out of the mind's eye of most collectors in the hobby....

I will admit that the value of some of his earlier vintage signatures may somewhat increase in value, but these don't currently sell for anywhere near Koufax's "asking price". I actually have 4 items that I would love to get signed by Koufax, but I find $500 a sig absolutely repulsive, so I will live without them. I remember getting Koufax's autograph as recently as the late 1990's at the National Sportscard Convention in Cleveland for $50 and he added an inscription that I requested for FREE!!

Times have certainly changed.....