Need Major Advice

[Steve M]

I’m hoping some senior folks on this forum can help point me in the right direction on a serious matter related to potentially selling a large vintage card collection.

Here is the situation. A friend’s family is in possession of a large vintage sports card collection, that has cards ranging from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, with the majority coming from the 60’s to the 70’s. There are more baseball cards than anything else, but there are also huge numbers of football and basketball cards.

The collector was the family’s father, who passed away two years ago. The family believes that the collection should never be touched – for many, many reasons. However, financial difficulties are necessitating reconsideration of this policy. As such, they want to look into selling a single high-value card – to see how it goes.

Since I have advised the family on a number of financial and real estate issues for many years, and because in my younger day - I used to deal in high-end vintage comics, and because the family has a high degree of trust in me, they have asked me to research this situation and help with the selling of this first card (and potentially the entire collection, at a later time).

The initial card to sell is what appears to be a 1954 Topps Henry Aaron Rookie Card, which appears (to me) to be in exceptionally good shape (no obvious flaws at all and looks to be well-centered, and borders appear to be the same width). The card has not been officially graded.

I realize that if the card is authentic, the potential sale value could be quite high – and could well eventually need to go to an auction house for disposition (as could parts or all of the collection).

I have been surprised to find almost no articles on the internet talking about how to proceed for someone in my situation. So of course, I am starting to make a plan.

I imagine that most people would say to get the card officially graded FIRST. However, if I understand how the grading process works at the top companies, getting THIS PARTICULAR CARD graded could itself be a very expensive endeavor, as the grading company apparently charges some portion of the expected full value of the card. So, in this case, we are potentially talking about thousands of dollars.

On the other hand, I found that SGC offers pricing “based on your declared value(s) and selected turnaround time”. I do not yet know what this means in terms of “your declared value(s)”.

In any case, before even considering getting the card graded, it seems to me the logical first step is to see whether or not the card is itself authentic, meaning – making sure it is not some kind of forgery or even an official reprint. In looking at high-grade images of both this actual card (the real one) and an official reprint of this Henry Aaron card, I myself can tell absolutely no difference. Unlike my previous experiences dealing with high-end vintage comics, this forgery and reprint business with the cards – takes me well out of my element. Needless to say, I am well out of my element on this entire subject.

So, I would greatly appreciate hearing from forum members on the following:

What reliable source can I go to to initially authenticate this card before going further down the standard process? [I do not mind paying for this service, or for anything related]

Any suggestions on a better total way to proceed?

Any important things you think I may not have considered?

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

[packs]

You can sometimes skip the grading process altogether if your card is accepted by an auction house for its auction. The auction house will have your card graded for you. But even if you were to pay the new fees for SGC, you're looking at between $85 and $250 depending on the value of your particular card, which is not that much of an expense if you're anticipating a few thousand back in the sale.

[x2drich2000]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the board.

From your post, it sounds to me like you have a basic understanding of card condition, but maybe not a detailed understanding of what constitutes each grade. What you consider "good" is many times different than what a colletor considers "good". With that in mind, I would start by just posting scans of the card (front and back) here. Board members will be able to give you a rough idea of grade (and authenticity) and a ball park on what you could expect to get for the card. As you mentioned, a 54 Aaron could have a huge swing in price depending on the exact condition. That would also impact how I would proceed next including getting it graded, whether to sell yourself or send it to an auction house (and which ones I would recommend).

As you might expect, the stars from the 60-70's are still collected heavily, but depending on condition, even minor stars may not even be worth the cost of getting graded.

For a lot of the stuff from the 80-90's unless there is something unique, extremely rare, or near perfect condition, I would not have high expectations. Generally, this era is plagued by over production and, therefore, there is little demand.

If you have any questions, please ask. Someone on the board I'm sure will be able to answer them.

DJ

[Steve M]

As someone has suggested, I will post what photos I have of the card - even though they are not high-quality and contain some glare. I will attempt to post some better photos this evening. Henry Aaron Rookie Card Back.jpg

Henry Aaron Rookie Card Front.jpg

[Zan]

Looks like a really nice 4, maybe a 5 with a generous grader

[trambo]

My first reaction was to get it graded. The downside of that is time as it will take a month or two to go through that process. Assuming the card does grade, the 4-5 range gives it a value of $1,300-$2,500 (range of VCP averages at 4 and 5).

Many other routes to take but the grading route (SGC or PSA) likely gives you the best result and should be worth the cost to do so.

As an aside, we are currently dealing with a large collection of model trains, cars and die cast stuff my father had when he passed away late last year. The best advice I received was to sell it as a lot or large groups if you're going to sell any of it. Once you start pulling the good stuff from the group, what's left may be more difficult to sell. Everyone will handle it a little differently but that advice has served us well so far! Good luck to you and the family!!

[Sean1125]

Email Greg Morris.

https://www.gregmorriscards.com/contact

He will do the best by you. Don't contact anyone else.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Get it out of that screw down holder ASAP.

[tsalem]

Interested in discussing this collection.

Tom Salem
774-573-1731

Www.opcbaseball.com

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by Baseballcrazy62

Get it out of that screw down holder ASAP.

I would recommend pausing on that. Any damage that has been done by being in that holder has already been done. The OP is not familiar with cards and just pulling that holder apart could ruin the card.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by Baseballcrazy62

Get it out of that screw down holder ASAP.

Agreed....PSA will more than likely only grade it authentic only....I hope the damage has not already been done.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

Email Greg Morris.

https://www.gregmorriscards.com/contact

He will do the best by you. Don't contact anyone else.

This. Highly recommended.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Steve M

has cards ranging from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, with the majority coming from the 60’s to the 70’s.

So this was a typo? Should've read 1950s to the 1990s?

[JayZim13]

I live in a senior community in Florida. I have been asked numerous times by people who have collections and need to discuss whether they want to keep all or partial or liquidate. If they want to sell something because they need the money it means the collection will eventually be liquidated. Probably sooner then later.
If they need some money I give them the following advise:
Evaluate the complete collection. Determine how much money they hope to get out of it. Based on that information figure out a group of cards to sell to achieve the amount. NEVER sell the best cards first. If you do that you will never get the best money out of the collection.
Grading decisions don't come until you have a plan.

[Steve M]

I did perhaps word this badly, but the main statement is correct. I was told that there are only a very small number of cards from the 50s, and that the greatest number of cards in the collection come from the 60s and 70s.

Originally Posted by Fballguy

So this was a typo? Should've read 1950s to the 1990s?