How do you price old newspapers with Baseball related articles ?

[deadballera]

referring to pre-WW2

Any idea of how to price newspapers that have articles for:

Gehrig ? Ruth ?

Merkle "bonehead" play ?


any help would be appreciated

[irishdenny]

About 10 years ago I purchased a an ole' Photo album from a Son of a Baseball collector. It was put together through a 'Fathers Life Time", from about 1900 til about the early 70's.

Mathewson, McGraw, Cobb, Johnson, Gehrig, Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Mantle, DiMaggio, etc..... You name someone of Baseball interest & I might jus have something of theirs in it!?!

I've been slowly separating them into individual Player Albums!

Same Boat We're iN! Then What?

[Jason19th]

I used to collect newspapers fairly extensively. I had a collection that went back to the mid 1850. While I enjoyed them I can to the conclusion that it is unlikely that there will ever be that much of a market. I think the main issue is that their size just makes them difficult to display and to enjoy. Further the post 1900 papers which were made with pulp paper are almost impossible to handle without damage occurring every read.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

I used to collect newspapers fairly extensively. I had a collection that went back to the mid 1850. While I enjoyed them I can to the conclusion that it is unlikely that there will ever be that much of a market. I think the main issue is that their size just makes them difficult to display and to enjoy. Further the post 1900 papers which were made with pulp paper are almost impossible to handle without damage occurring every read.

Agreed. The few I've sold I had to practically give away. While there are certainly exceptions, run of the mill stuff is usually oversized and doesn't make a great display piece.

[SAllen2556]

Originally Posted by conor912

Agreed. The few I've sold I had to practically give away. While there are certainly exceptions, run of the mill stuff is usually oversized and doesn't make a great display piece.

Uh...yeah. I'm gonna to have to go ahead and sorta disagree with you.

My basement is littered with framed newspapers, partly because both my father and grandfather were newspaper photographers, but I still think old newspapers make great display pieces. These are actual pieces of history! Sold on the street the actual day, or day after, the event occurred!

The 1935 Tiger world series win newspaper went for around $200 on ebay a year or so ago, so I don't think they're exactly cheap. Admittedly, it is not wise to handle them since they will fall apart, and framing them can be tricky.

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[doug.goodman]

Certainly random newspaper issues or pages with baseball content are worth virtually nothing (unless you get lucky and find the right buyer). It gets easier with large images or headlines as noted by SAllen2556, but even then prices are super cheap in comparison to cards with comparable ages.

With the occasional exception (like panoramic photos), I would argue that the bigger things are the cheaper they sell for, on average.

Doug "so size DOES matter?" Goodman


PS - for those of you who care, I believe the safest way to store larger items, particularly newspaper pages from the brittle era, is in a bag (like a comic book) and then in an Itoya profolio (the largest size they sell is 18 X 24). For centerfolds, it's possible to put the backing page in the middle and then fold it all the way over so as to be on the front and back of a single page sleeve, so both are viewable.

[GaryPassamonte]

Certain newspaper type images can sell for decent money. In fact, a Ruthcover identical to this one from 1916 is currently at $3700 without the BP in Heritage's auction. The auction closes tonight so there may be more bids to come. Granted this may be the exception, but we're talking real money here.

[BeanTown]

Current price is 4800.00 and next bid will take it to 5k. So much for newspapers flying under the radar. What’s left to collect for nice old pre war baseball items? Letterheads?

Update... Just closed at 9,900.00. Looks like the Dewey beats Truman paper has company!

[GaryPassamonte]

I'd like to meet the under bidder.

[Republicaninmass]

well that one. These Ruth cover mid-week pictorials have been circulating forever, and never worth more than a few hundred, intact and in great shape. I believe I barely sold mine 25 years later for what I paid. A loss after inflation!

[benjulmag]

This is the link to the 1909 Sporting Life that had the T206 ad that pictured Wagner. https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=88843

The lot was the entire issue, and I was surprised it did not sell for more.

As has been said, some of these vintage newspapers contain hidden gems and often sell under the radar.

[TUM301]

Like them and think they look great framed in the hobby room. That Ruth Sporting News is nice. Enclosed is one of my favorite pieces, The Boston Post`s cover story resulting from Jackson`s and Cicotte`s 1`st grand jury testimony in Sept. 1920 (the 1`st gambling admittance). The rest is history.....
Boston Post Headlines, September 29`th 1920 by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr

[irishdenny]

Some of these are worth a little bit... (:

[kevlar7]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

This is the link to the 1909 Sporting Life that had the T206 ad that pictured Wagner. https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=88843

The lot was the entire issue, and I was surprised it did not sell for more.

As has been said, some of these vintage newspapers contain hidden gems and often sell under the radar.

The fact that publications like this were not made to survive makes them more desirable to me. Imagine how many issues like this were thrown out because the paper disintegrated or because the issue didn't have a major star on the cover. I believe the value of this issue is underpriced for the history it contains.

[jbsports33]

I have been selling paper and ephemera for a long time and paper stuff always gets the lowest prices - if you look hard enough there some really good vintage items out there. Newspaper can go for the least amount unless big names are on the front covers. Programs and photos do better, newspaper stuff can be tough. I had some really nice stuff from 1967 Red Sox and I thought it would sell at decent prices - got less than 100.00 for 12 newspapers. Now prewar can be different, but even some of the stuff from the 1920s that shows up often sells for maybe 20.00 or 30.00 a newspaper unless real bigs names are on it. The good thing sense you asked, is this stuff is more affordable compared to cards, so if you find something cheap and it's nice buy it! All this type of stuff is going to get harder to find. Ads with cards or baseball can be very good can be different as you can see - still ok prices!

Jimmy