How do I determine the values of my baseball card?
Read on to find out how to know if your baseball cards are worth money.
The hobby of collecting sports cards has grown significantly in recent years.
Children widely took up the hobby, which began in the early 1880s.
Later in the 1930s, the emergence of Goudey as the dominant sports card manufacturer meant that the practice was well received by adults.
Since then, the flame of collecting sports cards of great sports stars from different eras has never lacked embers.
Baseball cards have been a significant facet of the sports card hobby as one of the most sought after sports cards.
With the most expensive baseball card ever sold for $4 million, the baseball card collecting hobby is fast on its way to peaking.
As a result, sports card enthusiasts are in a mad rush to get their hands on scarce sports cards, even willing to spend fortunes to get them.
This insane rush for baseball cards has created a whole new market where it’s easy to sell a sports card above market value and well below market value.
It’s best to know how to determine the values and value of your baseball cards to ensure that this disparity doesn’t affect you as a seller, even if you decide to use appraisal services like PSA.
With that in mind, we discuss how to determine the value and value of a baseball card.
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Factors that determine the values and value of baseball cards
For those familiar with the trading of sports cards, it is not surprising that huge sums of money are paid for cards in less pristine condition than those in decent conditions.
It may seem incomprehensible to those who know little about how the value of sports cards is determined.
But after reviewing the following factors, you will fully understand how basemaps are rated.
1st condition
Condition is a major factor affecting every baseball card value, regardless of the era in which it was produced.
Every sports card collector wants every card they buy to be in the best condition.
As a result, collectors tend to pay significantly more for quality baseball cards.
A collector’s price for the quality of a baseball card depends on how rare a quality version of the card is.
Before purchasing a baseball card, collectors often look for these critical factors:
centering
Centering is perhaps the biggest concern for any baseball card collector when checking the quality of a baseball card.
Centering refers to how the image printed on the card is centered from all angles.
It is usually preferred if the card edges are uniformly wide on all sides.
However, a card with a centering rating no worse than 60/40 – 55/45 on the front and 70/25 on the back can be considered a well-centered card.
Vintage maps (maps that are around 30-70 years old) usually have centering issues as they were made before the printing techniques were developed that bring precision.
Overall, collectors would pay less for a poorly centered card.
sides
The edges of a card play an important role in how a card appeals to collectors.
Collectors typically judge a card’s edges by looking at it sideways while looking for debts and cuts.
Some vintage cards have dents and cuts in their edges because their makers cut them poorly.
Professional graders like the PSA usually make exceptions for vintage maps known to have such cuts.
Still, every collector prefers cards that are free of chips, cuts, dents, and nicks.
corners
Every baseball card collector in the sports card collecting hobby dreams of buying a card with razor sharp edges.
The term razor sharp edges refers to well defined edges and crisp edges.
Collectors would pay less for cards with rounded edges since they are signs of heavy use and are in poor condition.
surface
Baseball cards are made from glossy card stock, making it effortless to identify cards with creases on the body.
The best way to reduce a card’s value is to ruin its face.
It’s what several collectors look for in a baseball card.
Collectors typically check for creases, stains, indentations, scratches, and stains on a baseball card’s surface.
Cards without these deformities fetch a higher price.
2nd year of printing
It’s an accepted rule in the sports card collecting hobby that the older a baseball card is, the more valuable it will be; This is primarily due to a dominant factor that would soon be discussed in this article – scarcity.
Older baseball cards are rare to find compared to their newer counterpart; This is how they make huge sums of money.
However, there are exceptions to this rule.
Traditional 1909 T206 cards would fetch more money than cards printed in the 1980s, and a 1963 Topps Pete Rose card would cost more than a 1983 Topps Pete Rose card.
The main reason for this, as mentioned earlier, is scarcity.
Maps printed in modern eras were published in large quantities, reducing their value.
To effectively measure the value of baseball cards, cards in the baseball card collection hobby have been divided into three eras.
Pre-War Baseball Cards
These are maps printed before the end of WWII in 1945.
Pre-war baseball cards feature some of baseball’s greatest players such as Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and more.
These maps are smaller compared to other maps.
They also display beautiful artwork and have advertisements for tobacco or confectionery companies on the back.
Hall of Famer tickets from this period usually sell for quite a large sum of money.
Cards from players not known as such in baseball from this period also bring in significant sums, but this happens when the card is taken out of production early or has a rare misprint.
Vintage Baseball Cards (Printed 1946-1979)
The cards that fall into the vintage era are around 30-70 years old.
They feature notable baseball stars like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays.
The 1952 Topps set is considered the most valuable set from the vintage era.
Modern (printed 1980 or later)
As already mentioned, cards from this period are rare.
In modern times, card production increased significantly.
Manufacturers like Donruss, Upper Deck, Fleece, Score and Topps have struggled to keep up with demand.
Although some cards are too standard in this era to be worth anything, cards like the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas Rookie card are valuable cards from this era.
Others include the 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookie card, 1993 SP Derek Jeter rookie card, and the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas rookie card.
3. Error
In the baseball card collecting hobby, mistakes can play an important role in increasing a card’s value.
However, this factor depends on the scarcity of cards with errors. There are two types of mistakes in the hobby.
Corrected errors
These errors occur when the manufacturer notices the error after the card has been printed.
The error will then be corrected in the later release of the cards; This then makes the cards with the error rare and skyrockets their value.
The most coveted error card is the T206 Joe Doyle, which was printed when Joe Doyle was pitching for the American League New York Highlanders.
T206 printed the card with a NATL error suggesting he was playing in the National League.
After that the error was correct.
But the limited version of the error map became valuable.
A PSA version of the Class 3 card is worth about $550,000.
Uncorrected errors
These are maps with errors that were never corrected by the manufacturer.
An excellent example of an uncorrected error card is the 1957 Topps #20 Hank Aaron card.
The card showed Hank Aaron on the left, but Hank Aaron hit on the right.
It’s worth a significant amount of money because of the player.
But it would have cost more if Topps corrected the error, leaving only some of the error cards in circulation.
4. Position in fixed order
Strange as it may seem, a baseball card’s value can be affected by its position in the set order, as that would determine the printing and handling process.
A card that is first in a set is in the top left corner of the hand and is susceptible to damage such as wear and tear when the hand is stacked.
A perfect example of this is the 1953 Topps #1 Andy Pafko card, which is a rare find in mint condition, increasing its value.
5. Variation in pressure
Unlike errors, variations in print have to do with the design on a card, which occurs for a variety of reasons.
These differences in design can cause a card’s value to increase significantly.
A map that fully shows this is the 1958 Topps Bobby Richardson maps.
The standard version of the card is written with Bobby Robinson’s name in white.
But the card with his yellow name costs more.
A PSA 9 version of the white card costs $600, but the PSA 9 version of the yellow card costs $2500.
Another card that proves this is the 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle cards.
A PSA 9 grade of the card that has the name Mickey Mantles written in white costs $12,500, but a PSA 9 version of the card with the name Mickey Mantles in yellow costs $40,000.
6. Player
This factor is related to the emotional connections that collectors have to cards from some of baseball’s biggest names.
These cards are cards from players who need no introduction, such as Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, and a few others.
Hall of Famer tickets would also cost more than other players’ tickets.
But it is best to remember that this factor plays a lesser role than the other factors explained.
7. Scarcity
Scarcity is the only significant factor that determines the worth and value of a baseball card.
Baseball cards aren’t usually relevant, but the demand for them makes them valuable.
Therefore, the scarcity of a baseball ticket plays a significant role in determining ticket price.
conclusion
Determining the price or price range of a baseball card depends on several factors that have been highlighted in this article.
However, each of these factors affects the price of baseball cards in different proportions.
It’s important to note that considering all of the factors together would give you a near-perfect guess as to the value of your baseball card.
