Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig Autographs

[kevinkemmetmueller]

A friend of mine approached me a couple months ago about selling his autograph album page signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. I told him I would look into it. I asked a friend how I should go about it and he sent me to AuctionReport.com. I posted it in the sell page and within a couple days I had about eight auction houses reaching out. After reviewing each place, we chose Leland's and the auction is up now: https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=107235
I thought they did a great job researching it. My friend does not collect anything and had no idea what it was worth. He wants to use the proceeds to purchase a $3000 bike (pedal). It was inherited from his great uncle or something like that. It is a cool story.
I do not know if someone ever was looking to list an item and looking at auction houses but AuctionReport.com was great.

[rand1com]

A neat story surrounding the autograph page. Your friend will probably be able to get his bike with the proceeds. If it was not laminated, he might buy two or more $3000 bikes but the lamination in my mind will keep the selling price down somewhat. Of course, many might not read the listing that closely and even realize it is laminated. At least it won't fade.

I have to disagree with their grades for the two autographs. If the Ruth is a 7, then the Gehrig is certainly not a 6. I would probably grade Ruth at least an 8 and Gehrig no higher than 4 due to the "Lou" which is barely visible.

[kevinkemmetmueller]

Originally Posted by rand1com

A neat story surrounding the autograph page. Your friend will probably be able to get his bike with the proceeds. If it was not laminated, he might buy two or more $3000 bikes but the lamination in my mind will keep the selling price down somewhat. Of course, many might not read the listing that closely and even realize it is laminated. At least it won't fade.

I have to disagree with their grades for the two autographs. If the Ruth is a 7, then the Gehrig is certainly not a 6. I would probably grade Ruth at least an 8 and Gehrig no higher than 4 due to the "Lou" which is barely visible.

I agree on the Lou part. I was surprised when I saw the grades posted. Babe is beautiful. Lou skipped a little. My friend laminated it as a kid and hung it in his bedroom.