Question re' Ernie Banks signed postcard

thisnamztaken

Hi. I collected baseball cards as a kid in the 1950's, but know nothing about today's market for that area of collecting.
I was a Cub fan and in 1956, sent for and received two, 2¢ postcards from the Cubs organization. One is autographed by Ernie Banks and the other by Gene Baker. For those who don't know, Baker and Banks were a really great double-play team at that time. Ernie, of course, played shortstop and Baker played second base.

My question is, are these 2¢ autographed postcards worth much (or anything) in today's sports memorabilia market, and if so, how much?
Thanks.

fkw

Roughly $50 for Banks, $10 for Baker...... depending on the type of postcard

I have many of them, but no Banks.

many collectors like the fact the postcards were used and postmarked making it easy to identify the age of the signature

I have a Kaline postmarked 1953 making it one year older than his rookie card.

Kiner example below

postmarked 1950 "Jacino" PC Ralph Kiner

thisnamztaken

Thanks FKW. Mine were just sent on regular off-white, pre-stamped, 2¢ Post Office postcards, not picture postcards like your example. Are they still worth about the same? Is eBay the best place to sell them or where?

I guess photos would help, huh? Here's Ernie's:

fkw

Id estimate quite a bit less for the blank "Government Postcard" ($20-$25 for the Banks, $5-$8 for the Baker maybe more). You may want to search eBay completed auctions under "government postcard" to get an idea of what a similar player goes for.

An autograph collector should be very interested in the Banks because the postmark proves it is an early signature (3rd season), its a far nicer example compared to a modern mass produced 1980-now Sharpie signature.

Gene Baker passed away in 1999 so there might be a bit of a premium for his signature, Im not sure how rare it is though. A Cubs or Pirates autograph collector would be the most interested.

thisnamztaken

Great! Thanks for your insight, fkw. I appreciate it.