Your Money: August
From August 2005
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His advice to collectors seeking to own quality cards is simple: Buy vintage cards, and make sure they’re “slabbed” (graded by a professional grading service). “I can’t keep the old (vintage) stuff in stock,” he says. “People are tiring of all the new variations. Vintage cards are, well, timeless.”
Several companies grade cards. Among the more well-known are Beckett Media of Dallas, and Newport Beach-based Professional Sports Authenticator. PSA is a division of Collector’s Universe, which also owns the coin-grading service PCGS.
Mint Condition Value
Both card-grading firms are reputable and charge anywhere from $8 to $25 per card for collectors to have their cards graded and assigned a “Mint State” numerical value — and therein lies the market in the high-finance world of collector cards.
“Population Reports” (produced by each company on various card varieties) by Beckett and PSA show the total number of cards graded for particular years and specifically graded cards. For example, the Beckett Population Report for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card shows 68 total cards, but only one graded out at a 7.5. PSA lists one example of a ’52 Mantle in PSA 9, a card that has changed hands in recent years for between $55,000 and $88,000.
The most valuable collector card to date is the 1910 Honus Wagner (shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates) T-206, which fetched $1.1 million during a 2004 auction on eBay.
Tom Marshall believes his Mantle card would “mint-out” at a high PSA or BGS grade, potentially bringing a value of several thousand dollars. While he admits sitting on a small fortune in cards, Marshall never envisioned them as commodities. “We collected them as kids because it was fun.”
Mark Anderson, manager of grading operations at Beckett, has this advice for Marshall and anyone else who uncovers hidden gems: “Talk to reputable dealers in the area and get the cards graded. Once they’re graded, they become liquid.”
Continued...
Several companies grade cards. Among the more well-known are Beckett Media of Dallas, and Newport Beach-based Professional Sports Authenticator. PSA is a division of Collector’s Universe, which also owns the coin-grading service PCGS.
Mint Condition Value
Both card-grading firms are reputable and charge anywhere from $8 to $25 per card for collectors to have their cards graded and assigned a “Mint State” numerical value — and therein lies the market in the high-finance world of collector cards.
“Population Reports” (produced by each company on various card varieties) by Beckett and PSA show the total number of cards graded for particular years and specifically graded cards. For example, the Beckett Population Report for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card shows 68 total cards, but only one graded out at a 7.5. PSA lists one example of a ’52 Mantle in PSA 9, a card that has changed hands in recent years for between $55,000 and $88,000.
The most valuable collector card to date is the 1910 Honus Wagner (shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates) T-206, which fetched $1.1 million during a 2004 auction on eBay.
Tom Marshall believes his Mantle card would “mint-out” at a high PSA or BGS grade, potentially bringing a value of several thousand dollars. While he admits sitting on a small fortune in cards, Marshall never envisioned them as commodities. “We collected them as kids because it was fun.”
Mark Anderson, manager of grading operations at Beckett, has this advice for Marshall and anyone else who uncovers hidden gems: “Talk to reputable dealers in the area and get the cards graded. Once they’re graded, they become liquid.”
Continued...
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