Babe Ruth "Traced" Signed Baseball... $1900+??!?!?!?!?!?
 

A Ruth fully traced baseball sold yesterday on ebay for $1900... I thought this was EXTREMELY high...

I've been trying to move a very light signed Ruth (with a legible Gehrig) for $2300 and haven't even gotten any offers on it!!

Part of me thinks I should retrace the Ruth signature and make it more appealing! JK as I could never do that.

Anyways, just looking to get thoughts on traced balls and what other collectors think in regards to their value...

Billy - can you post the link to the auction?

Here is the link to the ball I assume the OP is referring to:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Babe-Ruth-am...p2047675.l2557

Regarding traced baseballs, here is what I have observed from my own sales. I have sold a partially or completely traced Yankees/Ruth ball twice in the last few years on eBay. I couldn't have been more clear in my description and title that is was traced, stating it several times, and in bold, and explaining it in more than one way so that I would feel confident the buyer would understand. Both times, I took a return on the item after I sold it and they realized what it was. My guess, based on the bidders for the ball, is that they either did not understand what enhanced meant or didn't read it. I have found a lot of folks bid on their mobile device that the description doesn't always completely show on your phone unless you click further in on it to read about it.

Hey, it's authenticated by JSA - What more could you ask for???

my assumption would be that some people still think hey this was still signed and held by babe ruth but has better eye appeal than a beat down faded one in the same price range.

However my personal take is if its traced over then it might as well be a fake because it no longer holds any value or interest to me.

I am not into the autograph business but would love to know what you mean by a traced autograph. I assume that someone went over the original autograph to make it more legible. Am I correct? If so, why would someone want to own that? To me, it sounds altered.

Yeah- that's pretty much it. Makes me sick that someone would pay more than $200 for a traced ball.

Makes you sick? FFS, why? As long as the buyer understands what he/she is getting, no problem. Then that's what it's worth to the buyer.

Yeah- I'm fully aware what the buyer is buying. I guess to me, it doesn't make sense since the OP has a original ball for slightly more. That's the basis of the post. I don't understand the mindset I guess.

I once asked someone on this forum why they collected autographs. The response was something along the lines of "I like the feeling that I am holding something that was also held by the that person, there is an attachment to him". Many many folks agreed, more or less, to that statement.

If that's the main reason, then why do faded or traced autographs have such a negative stigma?

I gotta agree with David. I rarely, if ever, feel sickness or outrage over any transaction on ebay.

+1 I am with David on this as long as buyer is fully aware. Heck the ball was still held and signed at one point by the Babe so it has that going for it!!!

I'd be curious to see if this ball doesn't come back on the market for someone who realized they overpaid. I personally don't see a traced or enhanced ball as attractive. I'd rather have a partial or faded signature, at least I can see what exactly was written by the signer.

For some people this may be the only way to own a Babe Ruth signature.. but for $1900... they could have gotten a faded ball for $500-1000 more... I just see it as a no brainer but thats just me

Count me in the group who doesn't see the appeal of a traced baseball. I think I'd rather have the Sinclair ball than one of these.

One big problem I have with a traced ball is how can you ever prove the original signature is authentic? First of all it's been faded to near oblivion to begin with.
Then, someone years later comes along and boldly defaces and covers what's left of a near non existent signature with fresh bold ink from a new pen.

How does any authenticator truly authenticate what they can barely see?

I know many would argue, Yea, but who would trace over a fake right?

Well if traced signatures continue to bring $1900 a pop, that day may not be far off or may have already arrived I'd argue!

How to make a quick 1900 bucks plan:
Step 1: buy beat up old ball and ink/pen
Step 2: Fade your halfway decent or worse forgery attempt in sunlight
Step 3: Trace over faded away forgery with fresh different ink.
Step 4: List on ebay (grandpas attic story optional) and find a sucker.

Scary

Thanks for the "how to"! :p

Here is one way it can be traced, innocently enough. When I was a kid (I was less than ten years old), I was at a charity softball game. Got a bunch of autographs, leveraging off other people's pens, etc. One autograph I got was in pencil. After a few years, the pencil autograph faded. I took it upon myself to "enhance" the autograph with a pencil so I could see it better.

End result is one autograph on the program is enhanced, and the others are in pen, untouched.

I sold an enhanced/traced one of Ruth for about 3K at auction

https://goldinauctions.com/LotDetail...entoryid=18329

I'd pay $3K for a Ruth "Home Run" ball. I'd probably believe that is how you got what you did for it. Have any others :) ?

my holy grail is a Ruth Game Used Baseball.. just missed out on your other one recently..

Count me amongst the group that has zero interest in "enhanced" signatures. But then again, I have zero interest in baseball cards, full tickets to historic games (as opposed to stubs, which I do collect), trophies, and figurals, among other things.
Each to his own.