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Is it worth it to have the few old baseball cards I have graded?

Cathy wrote:

Hi,

I was wondering if it is worth it to have the few old baseball cards I have graded? The cards I have are:

brooks robinson #439 probably from 1959? (it has some wear and a few creases on it)

stan musial #150 probably from 1959? ( just a little wear on it)

fred haney '59 all star selection #551 (in excellent condition)

ted williams 1934 -ted learns the fine points (in excellent condition)

ted williams 1943-honors for williams (in excellent condition)

ted williams 1954-ted is patched up (it has a worn edge and a few creases on it)

thanks so much for responding, Cathy

Charlie's Response

In answer to your question about grading your cards:

It's probably not worth it. First, you'd have to go to one of the more respected sites -- PSA and Beckett lead the pack -- and they're not cheap when you send just a handful of cards. To get a decent per-card grading price requires quite a few cards submitted at once.

Beyond that, any card with creasing will have a fairly low grade. The bids on such cards haven't been too bad, but you'd be hard-pressed to top what you'd have to pay in grading fees.

Excellent cards generally do better, but those Williams cards are actually from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set, and don't book particularly high. A standard '59 Williams books in excellent condition for between $5.50 and $7.50. Again, you'd probably have trouble topping the grading-service price if you tried to sell the cards afterward.

If you went to one of the newer services, the grading would cost you less, but you wouldn't realize as much in a sale as you would from PSA or Beckett graded cards.

I hope this helps.

Charlie Haeffner

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