PSA/DNA vs Spence / Nice Ruth Piece

allstars · Dec 6, 2011

Had a fantastic piece come into the shop today, which I purchased. It's a dark blue felt pennant, roughly 2' long & 8" tall. It has a leather baseball bat sewn lengthwise down the pennant, and a felt number "3" sewn over the bat. Oh, on the sweet spot of the bat is what I believe to be a genuine Babe Ruth autograph. The piece has the look & feel of the right era. Pinned to the bat about halfway down in a gold-colored metal pin with "Babe Ruth" on it.

My question is this: Is there a premium attached to which of the two top authenticator's coa? Does one get more $ than the other? I've used Spence & PSA/DNA before, but never compared the two on alike items. This piece is awesome & I believe it to be authentic, so I don't want to sell myself short as I feed my family with this stuff.

Many thanks in advance, I'll get a scan or two up asap...

jrinne · Dec 6, 2011

Re: PSA/DNA vs Spence

When it comes to high end autographs I always go with Spence. Lower end PSA/DNA

allstars · Dec 6, 2011

Re: PSA/DNA vs Spence

Yea it makes sense for me to go with Spence too, at least from a cost & turnaround time perspective. Spence is in NJ & I'm in PA. The only reason I'd send it to Cali is if there was a significant difference in PSA's return$. Assuming it comes back legit, I really think I'd like to get some custom framing done. It's definately a unique piece.

BunchOBull · Dec 6, 2011

Re: PSA/DNA vs Spence

Vintage HOF sigs do fine with either company, but, traditionally, PSA/DNA is marginally more profitable.

jpruitt2 · Dec 6, 2011

Re: PSA/DNA vs Spence

Post some pics of it. I would love to see it, but to answer your question go with Spence.

allstars · Dec 7, 2011

Re: PSA/DNA vs Spence

Here you go, these pics don't nearly do it justice as the auto is much more visable than it appears here. Enjoy.

allstars · Dec 8, 2011

I've decided to go with spence. Assuming it comes back authentic I'm going to have the thing custom framed with a nice picture of Ruth that I have. I searched EBay for Ruth autos and there's nothing but balls and cut autos. This piece is really unique and will make a great display piece.

jpruitt2 · Dec 8, 2011

Goodluck, and keep us updated on how it turns out.

fkw · Dec 8, 2011

unusual item that looks old for sure

to me it looks homemade (which would usually have a better chance the sig is authentic) because of the unusual blocky "3" and simple looking "bat" and the shape of the pennant in general and lack of style in the design

bad thing is the sig really doesnt look to be ink of the Era (fountain pen), it looks like its printed in silver paint and not showing the speed of a true signature. (hope Im wrong there and the angle of the photo made it ??silver looking?? (glare)

to me, the best part of the item is the pin, Ive never seen it before, I was thinking by your description it would be the common 1935 Quaker Oats brass pin, but its something completely different.

Does the pin say anything else besides "Babe Ruth" ? what about the back? any marks ?

interesting piece, you should show the big time experts, many visit Net54 in the memorabilia section, the cream of the crop of high end PreWar memorabilia collectors (lots of pennant/autograph collectors from what Ive casually seen)

they may save you some $$ if it is a known (printed) piece

http://www.net54baseball.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

sports-vault · Dec 8, 2011

PSA/DNA is more profitable. Not even close!

homerun28aa · Dec 8, 2011

Really don't want to discourage you but that may be a clubhouse Ruth. When Babe signed he almost always slanted the B quite a bit, maybe I just can't tell simply from those pics. I do wonder what that was signed with if it is authentic. Please keep us posted.

nyc3 · Dec 8, 2011

With all the shanangians over at JSA I would send it to PSA for the most money. But as its been said already I am not 100% sure its legit.

allstars · Dec 8, 2011

The signature looks more like pencil to me than pen, thanks for all the input guys. I also agree that the pennant looks homemade, I was thinking that myself. It came in with a Yankees shirt that was definately from the era, it was so beat-up & smelly that I deemed it worthless. While a "clubhouse sig" is surely possible, I've only seen such sigs on balls before. The condition of the sig is what leads me to believe it's more than likely very old, much like the pennant. As for the pin, it has no markings on the reverse but it too appears to be very old. I'll definately update this when I get it back from either Spence or PSA. Can someone provide an example of how PSA/DNA leads to more $ on similarly signed vintage items? From what I can tell, PSA is much more expensive to use; This doesn't bother me if it's clearly worth the investment. Normally I wouldn't purchase an item like this outright, but rather take it on consignment. This one I liked alot though, and the price I paid for it is such that I wouldn't hurt too badly if it proves to be bogus.

AMAZIN HOF COLLECTOR · Dec 8, 2011

I cant see it being a clubhouse signature. Something like that would have been signed in front of the person at the ballpark.
Not a good enough scan to give an opinion on real or forgery. Hope its real!

Would you mind giving us a hint on what you paid for it?

gt2590 · Dec 8, 2011

I'd give Spence's guys a call first too. They have a lot of gigs in the Philly area and maybe they'll stop in to check it out since you're near the TP and can give you some advice that way.

I'd also give Dave Hunt at Hunt Auctions a call for some input on it too...

pootshwan · Dec 8, 2011

Very cool, unique piece of the Babe. Let us know when you get this back from authentication!

allstars · Dec 8, 2011

pootshwan said:
Very cool, unique piece of the Babe. Let us know when you get this back from authentication!

I sure will, either way. It's very convenient to send stuff to Spence for me, I generally get it out & back in a week or so, plus no exhorbitant "rush fees" like PSA charges. I'll be shipping it to JSA in the morning. Thanks for all the interest & advice guys, it's greatly appreciated.

AMAZIN HOF COLLECTOR · Feb 11, 2012

Had to search for this post....
I was very interested in how this turned out.
Any update???

PadresFan86 · Feb 11, 2012

I would never buy anything "authenticated" by spence.

jeff550 · Feb 11, 2012

I have seen tons of stuff get passed by PSA/DNA that is clearly not legit(lots of clubhouse Hank Aaron are passed). I have seen less of this happen with JSA. I trust JSA much much more than PSA

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