What is better for autographs on a card? Pen or Sharpie

[T206Collector]

I think it has to do with the overall composition/presentation of the item being signed. Here are a couple of my favorites, which are my favorites because of how well the signature presents on the card. The ink/pen complements the card in these cases:

Ball Points:




Fountain Pens:

[frankhardy]

Now that I've wiped the drool from my face -

I prefer the ink to be consistent with the era. I owned 2 1966 Topps Curt Ford PSA/DNA cards at the same time. I sold the Sharpie and kept the ink for that very reason. It just looked more vintage. (Curt Flood sigs below, these all passed PSA/DNA)

Ball point pen on modern card (especially the glossy ones from the 90's and 2000's) really look bad in my opinion. The ink just doesn't take to them very well, therefore, Sharpie is the only way to go. (2001 Topps Traded Pujols Sharpie pic below)

[3and2]

I also think you need to consider the age of the person signing. Perhaps if they are elderly, they may not be able to press very hard w/ an ink pen, therefore, the signature might look light. A ultra thin sharpie would allow the signature to appear more bold.

I really don't like signatures when it is difficult to see or read. However, when it is signed w/ a ink pen and it is crisp and bold it is really sweet.

[HRBAKER]

Like most who have weighed in, I like to try to match the medium with what the card would most likely have been signed with during the day. Although I am not a big fan of pencil autographs, the Ott card below was most likely signed during his playing days like the Lopez which is signed in fountain pen. For the Maris card, I waited until I found an ink signed one passing on a few Sharpie signed ones beforehand. Finally for most anything 1980 and on only a Sharpie will do.

[homerunhitter]

In regards to 50’s and 60’s cards do you prefer pen or sharpie? For me my cut off for pen is 1970. I think 1971 and above looks better with sharpie. But keep going back and forth on the 50s and 60s cards. What do you think?

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

In regards to 50’s and 60’s cards do you prefer pen or sharpie? For me my cut off for pen is 1970. I think 1971 and above looks better with sharpie. But keep going back and forth on the 50s and 60s cards. What do you think?

Regular ink pen or fine point Sharpie (if you are hell-bent on using Sharpie). The thick sharpie sigs are often a mess, and tend to deface the card more than they enhance it.

[Chris-Counts]

While I prefer pen to Sharpie, and fine Sharpie to regular Sharpie, I like fountain pen signatures the best. I agree that the post-1970 cards look good with Sharpies — they even work on Kelloggs 3D cards.