Baseball Card Value

History of Baseball Cards

The history of baseball cards stretches right back to the 1840’s. Cards as we know them today, however, did not start to become widely available until the late 1860’s. By this time, commercial printing had become more accessible, making the mass printing of cards and other literature a more viable marketing tool. One company that was quick to catch on to the benefit of printed advertising was the sportswear manufacture, Peck and Snyder. The company recognized the huge popularity of baseball amongst people from all walks of life and printed up cards with pictures of baseball teams. These pictures would be placed on the front, with an advert for Peck and Snyder sportswear products printed on the back. As these 'trade' cards were mass printed and given away, they are regarded as the first modern baseball cards. The cards were called ‘trade’ cards as unlike later cards, they were given away free and no purchase of a product was necessary.

In the mid 1880’s baseball cards started to be used by cigarette manufactures as a marketing aid. They also helped stiffen cigarette packets. Cards remained popular with cigarette manufacturers for many years, with there being a slight lull at the end of the nineteenth century and start of the twentieth century.

Manufacturers of other products also saw the benefit of using baseball cards to promote their products and the popularity grew. Many famous brands and products used baseball cards as a promotion tool, including cereals in the 1960's.

Today collectors collect baseball cards either specializing in a genre, or simply keeping a general collection.

Understanding Baseball Card Value

The value of any collectible item is what someone else is prepared to pay for it. However with baseball cards, the combination of a large volume of cards, and huge numbers of collectors, means that there is a vibrant market of people constantly looking to extend or reduce their collections. Collectors often look to collect baseball card sets, and as such individual cards as well as complete sets have a value.

Researching Value

There are specialist publications that offer information and advice about the baseball card values. For instance the Beckett Baseball Magazine, cardpricer.com, and Professional Sports Authenticator website offer price guides and advice.

There are other ways of researching baseball card values. Websites such as eBay.com can offer a wealth of information. Not only are current cards for sale shown, along with bid information, full sales details of recently sold cards can be seen too. This information gives a clear indication of what people are currently prepared to pay for different cards.

Condition The condition of a card will naturally affect the value of it. Cards with bent corners, scratches, tears and other damage will command a much more reduced price than a card in pristine condition. Some collectors will look to fill in gaps of their collection with cards regardless of condition, with a view to changing the card for one in better condition when it becomes available. Therefore cards of all conditions can have a value when matched with the right collector.

A common flaw in cards is where the picture is off center due to printer error. This can be found in a large proportion of cards and can affect the value of cards of even the most pristine of conditions.

Grading There are grading services available, which will use certain criteria to professionally grade cards. This is essential for collectors looking to buy or sell high value cards. The cards are graded as to condition with ‘mint’ cards meeting the following criteria:

• Four sharp corners
• 55%/45% or better centering - the centering of the picture within the borders
• Smooth edges
• Original color border and gloss

At the other end of the scale are cards that are graded as ‘Poor’. These are cards which are well worn or abused, with badly rounded, layered corners, scuffing, some lack of original coloring, with serious creasing.

Cards can range from a few cents in price to perhaps several hundred thousand dollars. The highest price paid for any baseball card is purported to be over two million dollars. It is clear that collecting these cards is a hobby with wide reaching appeal.