Need Help!! Rare Unperforated 1955 Doubleheader Ted Williams question

gonzoa

Greetings to one and all:
first time poster. looks like a great community that's been built here.
My question:
I recently stumbled across what may be a great find, and I'm looking for some more info and some guesses on value. I bought a 1955 Topps Doubleheader of Ted Williams (and Hal Smith...not quite so famous). I was VERY impressed with it's condition. I would guess it at a PSA 7...maybe 8, but probably a 7. This was my first doubleheader, so i didn't think anything was unusual w/my williams until i saw some other doubleheaders for sale. Mine does not have the perforations. It has never been folded, and there are no perforations. I did some research....apparently this is pretty rare...rare that it's not perforated, rare that it's ted williams, and rare that it's in NM condition.
I went to PSA's pop report, only saw one ever graded, and got really excited. Then i researched some more and found PSA doesn't grade the unperforated versions anymore. So i guess that's why they only have one graded. SO....QUESTION #1: How rare is this? Someone told me that only SGC grades these, but that their pop report doesn't distinguish between perforated and unperforated, so i have no idea how common they are, which leads me to QUESTION #2: VALUE?
I could get no estimate of value. Let's say this is a PSA 7 to be safe. That has an SMR of like $750, so what kind of price might an unperforated version fetch? Any ideas?

Any and all help would be MUCH appreciated. Maybe someone knows these answers? Maybe someone has seen an unperforated williams doubleheader end up for sale in an auction? Thanks very much for any ideas or help.
Jeff

mikeschmidt

PSA does *not* grade the unperforated examples. SGC does. If PSA graded one in the past, it was a one-off event.

The unperforated examples are typically rarer - but, all else equal, they are relatively more plentiful in high grade. Specifically because they were not distributed - they are easier to find in high grade. But is is very much a niche market. Depending on the SGC grade, an auction house might be a good route. Ebay can be fickle at times on rarer, esoteric issues.

gonzoa

Thanks very much. That is some good info, and a good point about the unperforated cards generally being in higher grade....didn't consider that. thanks.
also good advice on the auction house...never done that before. wondering A: what auction house and B: the value of the card.....is the value great enough that's it's worth going that route?
again, thanks everyone for any and all information.

bobsbbcards

gonzoa,

First off, welcome to the boards! mikeschmidt's answer was right on the money. If it were me, I'd get it graded by SGC. If it comes back a SGC 84 or lower, and I wanted to sell it, I'd go with eBay. If it was 88 or higher, I'd probably go with an auction house. MastroNet or REA wouldn't typically auction off a single example from this set, even if it is Hal Smith. You might be better off going with Goodwin (0% commission for sellers is also a plus). He presents cards like this well, and usually has lots of high-grade single cards in his auctions.

Hope you decide to stick around. What else do you collect?

Bob

P.S. Oh, and if the card came back an SGC 86, I'd give it to some nice helpful person on the CU forum. Maybe not the first respondent, but one of the first.

gonzoa

fantastic! thanks for help on the auction house ideas. couldn't find much about a goodwin auction house thus far in my searching, but i'm sure i'll find it. I've never had sgc grade anything before, but i'll likely use the guidelines you gave to help me figure out where to sell it.

Or maybe i won't sell it. I may wish to keep this card, but I may not. Not knowing value makes that decision very tough. Getting an idea of how much i might expect to get for it would help me make up my mind. Any very rough ballpark ideas anyone? I'm not familiar with SGC's grade scale, but it would've been a psa 7 had they graded these.

i am new to collecting, and i'm kind of here and there right now, trying a little of this and that until i find my niche. i used to collect until about '93, then got frustrated with the whole thing. now 30, i decided to look back into collecting...gave up smoking and so i needed a hobby to occupy my mind. i began with early 1900s as it seemed very interesting....turns out likely too much so....too much to learn and too many weird issues to keep track of. since then, i've begun collecting 1950s cards that interest me, and am really enjoying it. not sure what my first set will be yet. I'm really loving '54 topps right now, but we'll see. As for this card, I may or may not keep it. Doubt i'll be giving it away at this point, but i'll keep you in mind. Everybody wants a piece of Hal Smith.

bobsbbcards

Jeff,

I've already got a Hal Smith, so you can give it away to some other needy soul.

Sorry I assumed you knew the SGC grading scale, my bad. SGC 84 = PSA 7, SGC 86 = PSA 7.5, SGC 88 = PSA 8, 92 = 8.5, 96 = 9, 98 = 10, 100 = 11 (see Spinal Tap). Going the other direction, SGC 80 = PSA 6, SGC 70 = PSA 6.5, 60 = 5, 50 = 4, 40 = 3, 30 = 2, then it gets kinda murky.

Value wise, you could probably expect to get $800 or so for an SGC 84 Hal Smith unperforated, maybe a bit more.

Card collecting is more addictive than cigarettes...you should probably switch back.

'54 Topps is a great set. I'm down to about five more that I need (then the dreaded upgrades....ouch).

Bob

Edited cause I can't speel

Southerncards

I agree that SGC is the way to go, but don't I always?