Vintage On-Card Autographs are the Ultimate Investment in the Sports Card Hobby
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Writing on a baseball card, even an authentic signature, was once considered an act of defacement. Baseball card purists truly believed that a player's autograph ruined a card's condition and reduced its value. A beautiful on-card autograph, amazingly, was seen as damage and not an enhancement. This widely held belief plays into a pivotal reason why vintage on-card autographs are the ultimate investment in the sports card hobby.
Vintage On Card Autos are Scarce
Vintage on card autos are scarce, while vintage baseball cards in general are not. It is a misconception among many collectors in the sports card hobby that most vintage baseball cards are rare. Even in their early days, Goudey, Topps, and Bowman cranked out massive quantities of baseball cards.
110,835 1933 Goudey baseball cards have been graded by PSA. Only 2,113 autographed cards from this set have been graded. The iconic yellow #53 Babe Ruth from this set has been graded by PSA, but only 4 autographed versions of this card have ever been graded by the same company.
317,336 1952 Topps baseball cards have been graded by PSA. Only 6,464 autographed cards from this set have been graded. The GOAT sports card, the 1952 Mickey Mantle, has been graded 1,652 times by PSA. Only 17 autographed versions of this card have ever been graded.
Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were well known for signing A LOT of autographs. It is estimated that Babe Ruth signed over 600,000 autographs during his lifetime. It's widely known that Mickey Mantlesigned thousands of autographs at collector events throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and the supply of autograph has been described as "bottomless." Despite an overabundance of autographs from these baseball legends, Ruth and Mantle did not sign many baseball cards because it was sacrilegious to do so.
Many current and retired players sign thousands of autographs each year at shows and for new Topps products. Since many baseball legends are no longer with us, the supply of their on-card autographs continues to dwindle.
Autographed Cards are where the Money is in Collecting
The biggest story in the sports card world this year has been the record-breaking $12.932 million sale of a Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant dual auto Logoman card. The card is special for the beautiful Logoman patches, but it would not fetch nearly the same premium if it were not for the beautiful on-card autographs by MJ and Kobe. The card is that much more remarkable because it was touched by both all-time greats.
The modern hobby is largely defined by the hunt for autographed cards. Autographed card fever is here to stay in modern collecting, and there has been a spill-over into the vintage market. People are beginning to catch-on to the scarcity and uniqueness of vintage on-card autos and prices are skyrocketing. Less and less cards are hitting the market and more and more of these vintage autos stay in collections for the long term.
Vintage Baseball Card Autographs have Serious Aesthetic Appeal
For a hardcore baseball collector, there is nothing more beautiful than a carefully crafted on-card autograph. Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, and many others are well-known for their majestic and unique autos. These players, unlike many current athletes, took great pride in their autographs.
Some avid vintage collectors actually prefer a ballpoint pen auto over a sharpie because they better speak to the era. Advanced card collectors can look at an auto and tell what year the player signed the card. Some early Mickey Mantle autographs fetch a premium because his earlier autographs are much different than his newer signature auto.
Card grading holds such a big part of the hobby. A beautiful autograph that receives an "auto grade 10" will always demand a higher price.
David is a collector based in Georgia and a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and New York Knicks. He is an avid sports card collector with a strong passion for vintage baseball cards and vintage on-card autographs. David enjoys obtaining autographs through the mail and loves connecting with other knowledgeable collectors to discuss the history and evolution of the hobby. He also previously wrote about the New York Giants for GMENHQ.com