Old Mickey Mantle Autograph and others help ;)

[Runscott]

I don't think the autograph book surrounding it is helping - realizing that its history could be that someone from Nova Scotia was visiting Boston and only had a piece of paper and pencil when they happened to get the opportunity to have Mantle sign, so when they got home they cut it out, bought the book and glued it it. Still, not the best.

I don't like pencil cuts like this, especially when decent 1953-ish Mantles can be found, but since you are asking about enhancing a sale, I would send it to SGC, as they will put it in a holder and it will look more attractive. Or they will reject it.

[Mr. Zipper]

The K looks like a re-drawn train wreck. Appears slowly executed and wobbly.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Is there a plausible reason why Mantle would have crossed the T and the L? The K looks like a re-drawn train wreck.

Appears slowly executed and wobbly.

the 2nd crossing is just the 'e' flipped up and around. My exemplars are on a different machine, so can't check to see if he ever did that.

I'm curious what SGC would think about this one.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by Runscott

the 2nd crossing is just the 'e' flipped up and around.

Yes, I saw that on second look and edited my post accordingly.

It still has other issues IMO.

[Runscott]

I can't remember ever signing my name with a pencil, so not sure what can be forgiven on such autographs. I know a lot of forum members love them.

[tipton444]

Interesting, thanks for the information. I'm a bit new to older Mantle autographs. Would it be best to take Mantle out of the book? The rest of the book doesn't have any huge names... It has Dick Van Patten, Jimmy Carter, a whole bunch of 50's midget wrestlers, and Goose a Harlem Globetrotter. There's 21 autographs, but they are definitely before my time, and I believe most are not valuable but I don't know for sure.

[Runscott]

I would wait for the Mantle experts to add their opinions to this thread. I don't get autographs validated, and I never buy pencil cuts, but if this one dropped in my lap and the experts said "good", I think I would send that first page to SGC. If they liked it, ask them to remove the cut and slab it. Maybe that's a bad idea, but that's my thinking.

I do have a bunch of 'sort of valuable' cuts at the moment, and I've wrestled with sending some of them to SGC. But that would make me a hypocrite . Personally, I see no value in owning a cut that comes with a piece of paper authenticating it;however, a uniform-size slab would make it presentable.

[MooseDog]

Jimmy Carter is probably the easiest US President to get. If the "Goose" Globetrotter is Goose Tatum he's hardly a nobody. There are some wrestling fanatics out there that might be interested in the midget wrestlers.

Autograph books generally are worth a lot more for individual pages.

PM me if you decide to break up the book, I'd be interested in the Goose. And you might want to post more scans, I'm sure folks here can help you identify the rest.

Originally Posted by tipton444

Interesting, thanks for the information. I'm a bit new to older Mantle autographs. Would it be best to take Mantle out of the book? The rest of the book doesn't have any huge names... It has Dick Van Patten, Jimmy Carter, a whole bunch of 50's midget wrestlers, and Goose a Harlem Globetrotter. There's 21 autographs, but they are definitely before my time, and I believe most are not valuable but I don't know for sure.