What is better for autographs on a card? Pen or Sharpie
 

Never have known the answer to this. Someone asked me the other day if the auto was a Sharpie or Ball Point. I guess from a preservation stand point. Would love opinions. I collect the 64 Topps Giants autograph set and most, nearly all, are ballpoint..just curious.

IMHO- I believe that this is completely a personal choice. Ball point or fountain pen are old school. Sharpie sigs are more common today.
FWIW- I guess I'm old school because I would always prefer the ink medium that is consistent with the era of the actual card. If I do have a card signed with Sharpie I prefer ultra fine point and usually black.;)
I hope this helps!

I think that's a great answer... the pen should be consistent with the age of the card. So for pre-1950s, fountain pen would be best, 50s -70s perhaps ballpoint, and 80s - the present perhaps signed in sharpie.

It's just a personal preferance (and beauty is in the eye of the beholder), but I agree with Scott that this is what looks most attractive.

From a preservation standpoint I don't think it really matters. As someone who collects signed cards to use in team matted projects (60 pirates, 61 Yankees, etc) I think pen signatures have a better "feel" for the era. With that said, there are times that pen signatures just get lost in some of the darker areas of cards. As Scott said, the ultra finepoint sharpie looks really good on cards, but it's a personal preference thing. Here's a couple of examples of strong signatures on 1960 pirates cards. I think both look good, but if the Stuart had been signed in pen, it would not have stood out as nice.

I prefer the sharpie-type implement for modern signatures. Ballpoint pen isn't a great ink, especially vintage ballpoint. There is a significant fading problem even with appropriate light handling, and if you display, forget it. I had a nice Ryan-signed baseball that faded so far so fast that I had to take it down after a very short time. Sharpies aren't colorfast either but they seem to do a lot better when exposed to light than ballpoint does. Pencil doesn't look great but it seems to last forever--the pencing writing on the Exhibits I have is as sharp as the day the stupid kids scribbled it.

Composition
 

I think it has to do with the overall composition/presentation of the item being signed. Here are a couple of my favorites, which are my favorites because of how well the signature presents on the card. The ink/pen complements the card in these cases:

Ball Points:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/i7qEXppIWsT4lflkN0jq0DiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Ys7fw31kTDs/SpiDhp42j4I/AAAAAAAAHNQ/M8gZjwJNV4M/s800/image0-1.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/l21KbszBvm-atvUKl8_sLHY2VLgy2RG_a1rPg51wK6M?feat=embedwebsite "><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Ys7fw31kTDs/RxQJrHtTkAI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/mlm1G6vTH9c/s800/Wheat%20T201%20Auto%20SGC%2050.jpg" /></a>

Fountain Pens:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WfJNa8mgUFRIlq5PuiOg9TiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Ys7fw31kTDs/R0d8yvNtHQI/AAAAAAAACQI/bdp6BOntBnU/s800/Warhop%20Auto%20SGC%20A.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CR1TuZ8XYxbAoHPgdA54TDiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Ys7fw31kTDs/Rv0PG3tTjsI/AAAAAAAABqI/S3lYSA1dB0k/s800/Marquard%20Portrait%20SGC%2030%20Auto.jpg" /></a>

Now that I've wiped the drool from my face -

I prefer the ink to be consistent with the era. I owned 2 1966 Topps Curt Ford PSA/DNA cards at the same time. I sold the Sharpie and kept the ink for that very reason. It just looked more vintage. (Curt Flood sigs below, these all passed PSA/DNA)

Ball point pen on modern card (especially the glossy ones from the 90's and 2000's) really look bad in my opinion. The ink just doesn't take to them very well, therefore, Sharpie is the only way to go. (2001 Topps Traded Pujols Sharpie pic below)






<a href="http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u116/shanehardy/PSA%20Messageboards/?action=view&current=CardinalsAutographs226.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u116/shanehardy/PSA%20Messageboards/CardinalsAutographs226.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u116/shanehardy/PSA%20Messageboards/?action=view&current=CardinalsAutographs232.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u116/shanehardy/PSA%20Messageboards/CardinalsAutographs232.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I also think you need to consider the age of the person signing. Perhaps if they are elderly, they may not be able to press very hard w/ an ink pen, therefore, the signature might look light. A ultra thin sharpie would allow the signature to appear more bold.

I really don't like signatures when it is difficult to see or read. However, when it is signed w/ a ink pen and it is crisp and bold it is really sweet.

Medium
 

Like most who have weighed in, I like to try to match the medium with what the card would most likely have been signed with during the day. Although I am not a big fan of pencil autographs, the Ott card below was most likely signed during his playing days like the Lopez which is signed in fountain pen. For the Maris card, I waited until I found an ink signed one passing on a few Sharpie signed ones beforehand. Finally for most anything 1980 and on only a Sharpie will do.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...automedium.jpg

In regards to 50’s and 60’s cards do you prefer pen or sharpie? For me my cut off for pen is 1970. I think 1971 and above looks better with sharpie. But keep going back and forth on the 50s and 60s cards. What do you think?

Regular ink pen or fine point Sharpie (if you are hell-bent on using Sharpie). The thick sharpie sigs are often a mess, and tend to deface the card more than they enhance it.

While I prefer pen to Sharpie, and fine Sharpie to regular Sharpie, I like fountain pen signatures the best. I agree that the post-1970 cards look good with Sharpies — they even work on Kelloggs 3D cards.

If I am going to ask for an autograph with a sharpie, I carry a fine tip Sharpie extreme. Significantly better fade resistant. I use for topps wall art ( 10×14 small posters of current Topps cards) and modern cards. I always have extras because Signers almost always keep them..

Good info. Can we see a few examples.

In terms of market value, sharpie signatures will sell quicker and may carry a slight premium, simply because they show up much better in the tiny picture windows on eBay on most other online marketplaces. A ballpoint sig no matter how bold just doesn't draw the buyer's eye as strongly, which means in some cases that people skimming through search results only using the thumbnails may not even realize the card is autographed. It's interesting that the prevailing opinion here is that old cards are better signed in BP because I haven't found that it always translates to sales. Aesthetically, 100% agreed on fountain pen. Especially when they used a flexible nib pen and there is a lot of shading to the ink.

While I can't say I own any of them, I prefer the look of Fountain Pen on vintage cardboard. If I were to get a more modern card signed, probbably fine tipped sharpie.

Nice
 

That Roger Maris is pure FIRE!