Autographed baseball; your thoughts please

memememeeee

Hi new here. Hoping this is the right place to ask: I have a baseball inherited from my father. Online research show that it is a team-autographed ball from the All Pacific Recreation Fund Service All Stars Game, Aug 22nd, 1943. Amongst the autographs are those of Hall of Fame members Joe DiMaggio and Red Ruffing, as well as Johnny Pesky, and several other major league all-stars from that year. (sadly, while HOF member Ted Lyons also played in that game, his signature doesn't seem to be on the ball).

The ball is unfortunately in somewhat rough shape, with some dings and scratches, and some of the signatures are fairly faded although still readable for the most part.

Do you think it would be worth it to get the signatures authenticated, and if so, how many of the couple of dozen would you do? With authenticated signatures, what's something like this worth (approximately)?
Thanks.

athleticsfan

Total cost to have all signatures authenticated with Joe DiMaggio being the premier autograph is $150. Also shipping to and from PSA is probably another $50 or so.

ArtVandelay

The fact that the ball is from 1943 and covers a very unique event during WW2. The event raised money to buy sports equipment for military personnel serving in the Pacific, which gives it historic value as well. I'd try to hunt down one of the programs from the game and pair it up with the ball once it is authenticated. I tend to think this could easily pull $2-3k given the rarity of the item and the fact it's also a piece of WW2 history.

burghman

I don’t think you get to pick and choose which autos are authenticated with a multi-signed item - they do them all. Regarding price, you’d need to provide pictures and names of the signers - if Joe’s auto is undamaged, it will probably be worth more than if his name is dinged or scratched.

Ahmanfan

All or nothing authenticating. It’ll cost A LOT to genuinely authenticate the ball.

vols1

Do you have a picture? Sounds like the ball would bring a few hundred dollars.

memememeeee

OK here's some pics. Looks like there's a scratch through the last 2 letters of Joe's last name, & Red has some damage too . . .
Wow; have to authenticate all 24 autographs?
How much is "a lot"?

memememeeee

Team roster here as well as an account of the game:
https://chevronsanddiamonds.org/2019/10/17/a-passion-for-the-troops-joe-e-browns-all-pacific-recreation-fund/
You can cross reference the ball to ID the signers.
Not shown are 2 other signatures on the "narrow" sections.

burghman

You’d have to go through PSA’s cost estimator to figure out exact cost. I threw Joe D in there as the most expensive single authentication, put the multi-signed count at 24, and it’ll run you roughly $150 (maybe more if there are additional fees for a ball plus encapsulation, grading (which I wouldn’t suggest), etc.).

https://www.psacard.com/services/tradingcardgrading Then choose Autographs and Aunthentication

memememeeee

OK thx and TBH is a bit confusing to me. Does this mean that the other signatures will be additional, or that Joe+24 others will cost $150?

And of course, the question on the other end is: with authentication, what's the ball worth? Is it worth it/will I get enough profit - or even my money back?

burghman

eBay has a recently sold Joe D multi-signed ball for close to $500: https://ebay.us/m/8lpOok

Joe’s auto is very faded in that eBay sale, but who’s to say if faded is better or worse than damaged? Only the prospective buyer can tell you that. Also the other names come into play. Seems like you’re likely to get your money back but doesn’t seem like you’ll make a ton with a sale.

memememeeee

@burghman said:
eBay has a recently sold Joe D multi-signed ball for close to $500: https://ebay.us/m/8lpOok

Joe’s auto is very faded in that eBay sale, but who’s to say if faded is better or worse than damaged? Only the prospective buyer can tell you that. Also the other names come into play. Seems like you’re likely to get your money back but doesn’t seem like you’ll make a ton with a sale.

That's helpful. Thanks for the info.

memememeeee

@ArtVandelay said:
The fact that the ball is from 1943 and covers a very unique event during WW2. The event raised money to buy sports equipment for military personnel serving in the Pacific, which gives it historic value as well. I'd try to hunt down one of the programs from the game and pair it up with the ball once it is authenticated. I tend to think this could easily pull $2-3k given the rarity of the item and the fact it's also a piece of WW2 history.

Well that's encouraging news. When something is that unique, it's usually either meaningless, or really significant.
Great suggestion re program. That said, the article I linked here says the program is almost impossible to find anywhere; calls it one of his great acquisitions . . . Might not be able to just find one on ebay. . . but I'll check around.

memememeeee

Found one mention online of a program that sold in 2012 for $59. That's the only internet presence I could find. . . .