Should you grade your sports autographs before you sell?

Every sports autograph collector will come to a time where selling is part of their collection management.

There are all sorts of reasons why you might want to sell sports autographs:

To upgrade to better examples
To make room for new autographs
To remove duplicates
Or just to raise some cash

And when you do, you will naturally want to make the best returns.

Frankie Dettori signed this Ascot badge on the historic day he rode seven winners.

And there's plenty you can do towards that end.

We've covered some of the methods you can use in an earlier blog.

But should you grade your sports autographs before you sell?

What is autograph grading?

We all grade our autographs.

Some more expertly than others. If you're self grading autographs for sale, be honest and comprehensive in order to protect your reputation.

But, for this article, grading means independent and professional grading.

And that's important.

Who does autograph grading?

Grading is not a universally recognised system carried out by some completely independent body.

It is a commercial service provided by companies in the autograph business.

It is subject to commercial pressures.

Among those commercial pressures is the pressure to provide a good service that can be trusted.

If the assessment of grading services doesn't carry any weight it's not worth paying for.

How you assess the worth of these services is up to you.

Jack Nicklaus's signature is bright and clear on this Masters hat.

However, they are broadly accepted as worthwhile in the autograph collecting (and very specifically in the sports trading card) community.

Grading is sometimes offered alongside authentication and certification services.

I think its likely that professional grading will add value to your autographs when you sell them. In some cases, it may be the difference between a sale and no-sale.

Examples of professional autograph grading

Let's take a look at two well-known autograph grading services and how they grade signatures.

First is PSA, Professional Sports Authenticator, a company who specialise in sports trading cards.

They authenticate and grade signed trading cards.

When they grade an autograph they are looking only at the signature. They don't evaluate the medium on which it is signed.

Their scale uses this rationale: "the basis of autograph grading really comes down to the degree of strength and weakness within the signature, with an emphasis on eye appeal and presentation."

What a well-placed signature this is from Muhammad Ali in 1971.

The scale runs from 1 to 10.

At 10 is Gem Mint, "a virtually perfect autograph." It will be written boldly with no skipping or retracing. They look for characteristic signatures that are well placed on the card.

Mint 9 allows some minor flaws.

Near Mint-Mint 8 is a "super high-end autograph" that has flaws only visible under close inspection.

A PSA Near Mint 7 is a "very strong autograph" with flaws that may include some fading, some bleeding or skipping in the signature.

Excellent-Mint 6 is "very presentable" but more flaws are allowed.

Excellent 5 includes signatures with visible aging. Up to 25% of the signature may be retraced.

Very Good-Excellent 4 will have "noticeable areas of advanced fading". At this rating, PSA says "Major eye-appeal issues have begun to set in."

Very-Good 3 is "noticeably faded throughout."

Good 2 has "significant flaws throughout." As much as 75% of the autograph may no longer be visible.

Poor to Fair 1 is the lowest grade, with "extreme loss of eye appeal and can barely be deciphered, even under close scrutiny - by experts."

Bobby Charlton was just a child when he signed this bible.

Another service, Becket Authentication Services runs a similar 10-point scale.

Their standards are similar, running from Pristine 10, through Mint 9, Excellent 5, down to very good, good, and poor.

To grade or not to grade

Grading is an extra cost to a seller.

It's a process that takes time, though service providers naturally promise a quick result.

There are a number of competing companies in this trade. Almost all are American, and the focus is on signed trading cards, a particular US specialty.

Other quality ratings may be more ad-hoc, but expert authentication and opinion on condition is also worth considering if you're trading outside this specific market.