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Baseball signed by Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Hank Greenberg, + Others
Folks
I am brand new here, and not a collector. I have only one item of potential value, but have no experience to know if it is truly of any value or how best to find out. Back in the 1910s-30s, a semi-pro baseball team played in Scottdale, PA, my hometown. My great grandfather was somehow involved with this team (probably as an investor) and therefore had access to the organization and related professional teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates (just 45 minutes away). Because of his access, he was able to collect quite a few signatures on a baseball and pass that down until it came to me. The most prominent signatures on this ball belong to Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, and Hank Greenberg. The ball is not in particularly good condition: faded leather; some scruff marks (including over some of the key signatures); and faded ink. My dad, who gave me the ball, told me to look into selling it to help pay for my five kids' college education (man, is that expensive!), but I'm not sure I could get very much for the ball -- perhaps the sentimental value is higher than the actual value. So, I am seeking advice from the "pros" on how I may be able to verify the value (without mailing it off to a company on the other side of the country), and then sell it (if it proves to be of sufficient value). Suggestions? FYI, I live just outside of Macon, Georgia. Thank you! |
Did you mean to post a photo?
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If you just want piece of mind for the ball you can list it on eBay for an absurd amount and do a PSA quick opinion online. It's not concrete, but a fair enough assessment without having to ship it. If you really want to sell the ball then I would go ahead and get a full authentication from JSA or PSA. Some people are comfortable enough with with their own eyes and the plausibility of the provenance, but the majority of buyers like the warmth of a good cert to allieviate their fears. Most major auction houses would love to have your piece and usually bring in one of the big authenticators prior to auction so you wouldn't have to ship it multiple times. REA, Goldin, and Heritage are some of the major players on the auction scene although I've had great customer experiences from or heard great things about smaller auctioneers like Sterling Sports and B&L Auctions (both run by reputable board members). I'm no expert but depending on the condition and crispness of your ball I'd put it in the low to mid four figures. With five tuitions to spread that amongst the family history of the ball might outweigh the monetary value return you recieve, but good luck no matter you decide. Welcome to the forum.
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From what I understand (and you should know that I may well be the least knowledgeable person on this board) there are tons of things that go into the value of a signed ball. I have a ball kind of like the one you have, with about 15 Detroit Tigers' signatures on it, including Greenberg, Newhouser, Gehringer, Birdie Tibbetts, Dutch Meyer, and a few others. I took it to a dealer once who told me that it would actually be worth more if it only had Hank on it. That having other signatures, even of guys like Gehringer, actually decreased the value over a solosigned ball. Seemed odd to me, but that's what I was told. On the other hand, he said that since Hank had signed right under the label, that made it more valuable than if he had signed on the side. But the fact that they had all signed the ball at a reunion event, well after their playing careers were over, made it worth less. Never ended up selling it, but he said it was probably worth three or four hundred. Not even enough to buy textbooks.
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A picture would help for sure but based on those names, you're looking at $1000 or $1500 in good condition. I would hold on to it and continue passing it down.
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pbspelly,
This is why I am very leery of single signed baseballs; a scam artist can buy a multi-signed ball, erase the names of the other people and then sell the single signed ball for more money. As far as the original poster and their question, if you can not post a picture at least you could say if the baseball has a stamp on it telling who the Commissioner or President of the league was. IF there is a stamp like this then people who know about baseballs can tell you approximately when the ball was made and if THAT affects the value any.... David |
Unable to Attach Photos
Thank you for the replies, everyone. I took your advice and have now taken a few photos of the ball. Unfortunately, this forum has a file size limit that is exceedingly small (78.1KB for a jpg file), and all of my photos greatly exceed this limit. Even when I attempt to save the files at the "lowest quality" setting, the file size is still too large. I'm sorry that I am not computer savvy enough to know how to make this work. Any suggestions?
FYI, someone wrote on the ball the year 1949, which I presume my great-grandfather wrote to record the year he collected the signatures, perhaps at a single event. The ball is stamped "Official League; Yarn Wrapped" on the center spot. I have no idea if this is meaningful to the ball's valuation. |
If you want to forward the photo files to me, I'll resize and post them for you. I'm sure others would be willing to do the same.
thecatspajamas99 at gmail.com |
Baseball Signatures Deciphered -- Partially
Thanks to thecatspajamas for offering to help me post the photos -- I have sent them to him in hopes of success. In the mean time, I did decipher a few of the other signatures (in addition to Wagner, Kiner, and Greenberg):
Rip Sewell Fritz Ostermueller Eddie Basinski Bill Salkeld Wally Westlake Clyde Kluttz (love that name!) Billy Herman Nick Strincevich Jim Russell Elbie Fletcher John Lanning Roy Jarvis Chet Smith (sports writer/editor in Pittsburgh) There are a few more I have yet to figure out. Most of these played for the Pirates in the mid- to late-1940s. That makes sense given the "1949" date hand-written on the ball. Thanks again. |
6 Attachment(s)
you're welcome
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Thank you greatly! Now, any thoughts from the crowd on the potential value (or lack thereof :-)) for this ball? I'd also welcome help interpreting the signatures that I have yet to decipher (see my list so far in a previous reply on this thread). Thanks in advance.
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I'll stick with my $1000 at the higher end. Cool family momento.
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Quote:
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This ball has some condition issues. I don't see it valued at $1000.
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$700-$1100
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Thanks -- All Names (Except 3)
Thanks to everyone for the inputs. I definitely see that this ball has much more sentimental value than any "real" value. I do appreciate your time. I have done my best to decipher the names. With the help of Google, I believe I have discovered all but three of the signatures. I continue to welcome any help in filling in the blanks on the three "Unknown" names. Feel free to send me a personal note if you can decipher them from the pictures above: rottnsox@mac.com. Thanks again!
SIDE ONE Honus Wagner Hank Greenberg SIDE TWO Wally Westlake Ralph Kiner Clyde Kluttz Billy Herman Nick Strincevich Unknown Billy Cox SIDE THREE Jim Russell Elbie Fletcher John Lanning Roy Jarvis SIDE FOUR Chet Smith (sports writer/editor in Pittsburgh) Rip Sewell Unknown Unknown SIDE FIVE Frankie Gustine Fritz Ostermueller Eddie Basinski Ken Heintzelman Bill Salkeld |
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