Lou Gehrig signed baseball
Serferdude
Posts: 28
Hello all, been a while since I have posted here.
A friend of mine recently inherited an autographed Gehrig baseball. I am going to check it out in a couple weeks, so I don't know the condition. PSA lists the value running from grade 7 $25,000 to grade 9 $75,000. I recommended to him that he fly to PSA to hand deliver the ball for grading. How much does PSA charge for this? And which auction house handles these types of items the best?
A friend of mine recently inherited an autographed Gehrig baseball. I am going to check it out in a couple weeks, so I don't know the condition. PSA lists the value running from grade 7 $25,000 to grade 9 $75,000. I recommended to him that he fly to PSA to hand deliver the ball for grading. How much does PSA charge for this? And which auction house handles these types of items the best?
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Comments
Steve
2 - is it signed by anyone else
3 - where is the location of the signature (sweet spot / side panel / etc.)
4 - was the ball shellacked or clear coated
5 - how clear / strong is the signature
If the ball is really nice, it might be worth it to bring it to the National convention, or to another show that PSA would be at, rather than risk shipping it. As for auction houses, I'd say if your friend doesn't need the $ right away to contact REA, as they will be running another auction later this year (for the first time). After REA, I'd say Heritage, Hunt, or Huggins and Scott.
Post some good pictures of the whole ball if you can.
Like others said get some opinions before flying the ball to them.
$200 seems reasonable. I haven't seen the ball, so I don't know what the condition is, where the sig is, varnished or not, but he did say it was the only sig on the ball. I am pretty sure it is authentic as the guy's dad got the ball signed himself.
I will post pics when I see the ball in a couple weeks.
Hope it's real but keep in mind there are tons of fakes out there - tons.
<< <i>I just talked to the guy who has the ball, it is signed on the sweet spot, he says it is a regulation MLB ball, and it is brown, so apparently varnished. >>
I'm looking forward to this one........I smell 1-800-STORY
This Ruth ball below was just "found/discovered" recently, and the lady that owns it just emailed me and asked me what it might be worth
One of the nicest Ive seen, ever.
And Gehrig is 20+X rarer than the common Ruth who signed everything he touched
PS The only small negative about the Ruth ball is its a "NL" ball
Always looking for Chipper Jones cards.
Im a very focused collector of cards from 1909 - 2012...LOL
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The new owner of the ball did not know what I meant when I asked him over the phone if it was signed
on the sweet spot, he thought it was the large part of the ball, not the space between the seams.
Also, he wanted to "surprise" me with the Babe Ruth sig on the ball, so he didn't tell me about that.
This appears to be a typical (as typical as these things get) Gehrig/Ruth ball, with Gehrig signing the ball first,
leaving the sweet spot for Babe.
This is the story that the former owner's widow told me about the ball. When young Jack was 9 years old, he took
a train from Kansas City to Philadelphia, solo of course as was common in those days. His uncle (a local politico)
picked him up, and one day they ended up at the ballpark. Young Jack had a baseball which Lou Gehrig gladly signed.
When the Babe walked by, the youngster asked him for his autograph. Either Babe didn't hear him, or was hung over
and didn't notice him, or both, so the uncle yelled at him, 'Mr Ruth, could you please sign this little boy's baseball.' The
Babe came over and signed the ball.
The new owner doesn't know yet if he wants to keep the ball or sell it, but I told him that getting it authenticated
by a reputable firm would increase the amount of insurance he could buy on it, or increase the sale price. He may end
up in Cleveland at the National Show, and will let PSA know he is coming with that item.
Pix to follow.
When my daughter gets back from her semester in Europe, maybe I can talk her into taking some
better photos of the ball with her 12.1 megapixel camera.
A couple of scuff marks.
Kinda fuzzy on the Lou, the sig is kinda weak anyway.
This is more the true color of the ball.
I took a minoHD video of the ball too, maybe I can capture some stills to post here. Maybe I can
upload it to youtube and post the URL here, if that is allowed.
I have already broken the news to the owner that the ball is not worth what it could have been
if it was as he had originally described it, ie a single signed Lou Gehrig on the sweet spot.
Stev
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.