slightly OT auto question

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Posted By: howard

A friend recently bought an unauthenticated ball signed by the 1961 Yankees for $100.00. I know, I know..you all have a bridge you want to sell him. Well, we've known the seller for thirty years and his father was a pilot who frequently had the Yanks on his plane. Some of the signatures are a bit worn but the principle ones are good (Mantle, Berra, Ford, Maris). The problem is that the seller says the Mantle is fake even though his name was signed at the same time as the others. It looks real to me but I can't imagine any reason the seller would lie about that. What I want to know is how common it was for a star player to have someone else autograph items for him.

Also, the same seller has a sheet of airline stationary signed by the same team. On this the Mantle is surely authentic because it was signed in a plane at 35,000 feet. However, at some point he had it laminated which I'm told reduces the value. It is in otherwise perfect condition. Does anyone have an idea of the value?

Thanks,
Howard

P.S. - the stationary was signed as a get well letter to the pilots son who had frequent health problems due to polio. And, sorry but I don't have access to the scans.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

For many old team signed ball, a batboy might sign a few of the names as those players didn't want to sit and sign 100 balls. This is fairly common. In other words, an old genuine team sign baseball can have many signatures signed by the real players and a few signed by the batboy. The batboy signatures are called clubhouse signatures. An authenic such ball can get a LOA from reputable autograph expert, with the LOA likely listing the clubhouse signaturure in the letter. Even with a non-Mantle, if the ball is authentic it's worth a lot more than was paid.

Many old team signed baseballs were shellacqued. The shellacque will lower the value but a shellacqued ball is still collectable and worth something. How shelacque or other substance effects the value of an authentic autographed item largely depends on the condition ('how it looks.').

As I mentioned once before, if you or your friend want to do a quick and dirty look into authenticity on your own, compare the common and minor players signatures to known real examples. A forger would focus on the Maris and Mantles of the team, not the minor players.

Yankees stuff in general is very popular and anything involving Mantle and Maris even more so. If the items are authentic and you can get an LOA from reputable and well known autograph expert, they are worth good money. If you had a ball signed by 10 1961 Yankee common players (no stars or even semi-stars)you could probably resell the ball for more than the $100.

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Posted By: Richard Simon

It was very common for Mantle to have a clubhouse boy sign his team baseballs in 1961.
The lamination of the sheet, reduces the value enormously. I would not even know if I could ever sell it.

--

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Unknown author
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Posted By: prewarsports

Have the signatures from the sheet cut up and slabbed by PSA/DNA. What does it matter if you item is encased in one sheet of plastic forever, or two?

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Posted By: howard

Thanks for the feedback, guys.