The first thing to keep in mind is that while Sharpie markers have become popular for signing, don’t use one if you’re getting a baseball signed. Baseballs signed with a nice ballpoint pen have proven to hold up best over time. Because of its nature as a marker, the Sharpie signed ball will often fade or “melt” over time, leaving your autograph with shadows and an unsightly appearance that will greatly impact the value.

Important step number two when preserving autographed baseballs is one that’s often overlooked: avoid a lot of handling of the baseball with your bare hands, especially if they’re not clean. Even clean hands, though, contain oil from your skin that can fade the signature over time if you take it out and juggle it or carry it around

If you’ve got a signed baseball that’s faded, is it OK to trace over the autograph? NO! Never re-trace an autograph. It’s especially important with older baseballs, because one with signatures that have faded or aren’t as sharp as they once were, is still worth more than one that has been traced over. Most grading companies will reject any baseballs that have been tampered with.

Keep your autographed baseballs in protective display cases and don’t allow direct sunlight to hit them. UV rays will yellow the ball and cause major damage over a long period of time. A little natural light in the room is fine, but don’t let them get a tan.

The best temperature to store them in is 65 to 70 degrees with humidity of about 50%. Of course, some of our homes will be slightly warmer, but it’s best not to keep them in a very warm, humid room.

Follow these steps for autographed baseball preservation and your collection will maintain its value and its appearance for many years.

Unless dated, old baseball photos can offer only a guess as to when they were taken.  An autographed team ball, when all players are represented, can often be pinpointed to a specific month, week or sometimes even a day.

Stars, semi-stars, and common players are all represented equally.  In fact, the autographs of many commons may be harder to come by individually than many stars. While the accomplishments of a team in a given season can be dubious like the 1988 Baltimore Orioles or glorious like a World Series champion Yankees signed ball, the ball autographed by a team represents those accomplishments equally.

Usually, the absence of a signature by a player can help define when a ball was signed due to the date of the transaction either by trade or free agency. Of course, the more stars or Hall of Famers on a ball will result in a greater value and a higher price.

Finding an authentic team signed baseball in great condition can be a bit of a challenge. Because of the nature of the item, if all team members attempt to sign the ball right after one another smudges and smears are likely. These defects not only affect the value of the ball, but may also make authentication nearly impossible.

Depending on the price of the ball in question, a buyer may seek to have a third party authentication service certify the team signed baseball prior to completing purchase. However, a higher valued ball, for example the 1927 Yankees, will likely already have the necessary documentation proving its authenticity. One guideline however, a certificate of authenticity is only as good as the company providing it. Collectors should recognize the name, and perform some research before spending a lot of cash.   PSA/DNA, James Spence and others do a generally fine job with authentication.

Team signed baseballs are a great way to recall a World Series year, a record year for wins, or other team accomplishment. Because collectors have favorite teams and favorite players, this type of collectible benefits both desires. Sometimes just reading the names (though handwriting is sometimes questionable) can help a collector recall each individual player and the ups and downs of a baseball campaign.

The nostalgia can be somewhat overwhelming ten years down the road, as these great snapshots of history capture every player that was on the team at that specific moment.  Signed team baseballs make for a terrific collecting focus, whether you’re collecting All-Star teams, World Series winners, specific teams or those from baseball’s storied past.

One of the major reasons for the sustainability of these items is the uniqueness and value of each and every baseball. Some of the factors that contribute to this include the player who signed the ball, how many signatures are on it, and the theme of the baseball in the case of multiple signatures.

The single most important factor in determining the value of a Hall of Famer signed baseball is the player who signed it. Currently, the most in demand autographed baseball is the single-signed Babe Ruth, often considered the “Holy Grail” among collectors. While there are many of them available in today’s marketplace, the value of an authentic Ruth signed baseball continues to skyrocket. This is due his legendary status in the sport, as well as an increased number of forged Ruth baseballs in circulation. These forgeries were created to take advantage of increased prices of Babe Ruth signed baseballs, but ended up raising the prices of the authentic signed baseballs even more.

For many Hall of Fame collectors, the value of a single-signed baseball is preferred over a multi-signed ball. While logic may dictate that more Hall of Fame signatures on one ball might be worth more, this is not the case. The value of a baseball is directly affected by its collectability, and baseballs signed by big names are worth more if there is more demand for them. With signed baseballs, there are usually many more collectors of a specific Hall of Famer than there are collectors of Hall of Fame players in general. As a result, the demand for the single-signed baseballs is greater than the multi-signed baseballs, and therefore more valuable.

However, multi-signed baseballs can also have increased values if they were created around a particular theme, such as a team-signed ball. A team-signed baseball is one that is signed by a specific team from a specific year, allowing for a few discrepancies due to mid-season roster changes. The inclusion of marquee signatures, the placement and quality of those signatures, and the condition of the ball, all directly affect the baseball’s value.

Other popular and valuable themes for multi-signed baseballs include the aforementioned Hall of Famers theme, as well as  All Star teams, World Series winners and specific individual achievement themes, such as the 500 Home Run Club, and 300 Wins Club.

As the Hall of Fame continues to add to its roster with a name or two each year, baseballs signed by those players take on added value as members of the most coveted fraternity in baseball.  It’s a special group–still relatively small–and for collectors, the ultimate focus.

Sweet spot signatures do tend to sell for a premium in the market. Most collectors prefer non-personalized autographs in case they want to re-sell at a later date, but players are sometimes insistent because they don’t want their autograph re-sold. It may not affect the grade of a baseball if you have it authenticated, but it may hurt the resale value if it’s made out “to Tommy”.

Always use a high quality ink pen when obtaining signatures. Don’t use a Sharpie like you would on an 8×10 photograph, bat or jersey. It won’t smear if handled correctly and the autograph shouldn’t bleed.

What type of baseball should you use to get the autograph or look for when you’re buying one? Typically, a signed Official American or National League ball will sell for more than an ordinary ball. There are various types of balls that are used to acquire signatures. They’re relatively inexpensive, available at better sporting goods stores or online and will hold your autograph better than a cheaper ball.

Should you coat your autographed baseball with anything? At one time, shellacking was a very common method of attempting to preserve autographed baseballs. According to authenticator PSA/DNA, “if the extent of the shellacking is light and does not affect the eye-appeal greatly, a baseball may still achieve a grade of “7″ but no higher”. A ball that has been shellacked may show cracking over time, which will impact its value. Of course, it’s not possible to undo the shellacking and it’s common knowledge that many older balls will exhibit this.

Since plastic autographed ball holders weren’t available for most of the last century, coating a ball was one way to preserve it, but later on, putting it in a drawer, wrapped in a plastic baggy or sock was another way fans and collectors saved them.

Removing signatures has become a modern era practice employed to turn a multi-signed ball with some lesser names into a more valuable single-signed ball. If a grading company determines that one or more signatures have been removed from a ball, that ball can no longer qualify as single-signed ball. Be sure to examine the ball closely to see if any names have been removed.

Another thing to keep in mind about signature preservation. Beware of the 1984-1990 baseballs carrying the signature of AL President Bobby Brown. The baseballs with “Haiti” placed under the Rawlings logo stamp were made without using distilled water that has permitted enzymes to potentially change the color of the ball as time passes. These balls often contain a yellowish-brown color.

You can check out  autographed baseballs on eBay to see what’s available.

• Single-signed baseball
• Team-signed baseball
• “Theme” baseball

The single signed baseball is popular with collectors for its simplicity.  The player signs his name on the ’sweet spot’, the narrow area between the seams.  They’re easy to display, clean and neat with one singular focus.  Many collect autographed balls from Baseball Hall of Famers in this fashion.

The team-signed baseball is a bit more complicated, but somewhat of a rare treasure, especially if you’re looking at one from decades ago.  Team balls are those signed by all members of a certain team.  Collectors of Yankees memorabilia, then, would gravitate toward a certain memorable edition of that club, likely a World Series winner.  World Series championship team-signed balls are among the most valuable in the hobby.  Others favor All-Star team balls or just collect signed balls from every year of their favorite team.  With team-signed baseballs, one must guard against “clubhouse” signatures.  Many times, baseballs would get passed around the lockerroom and the more famous athletes would have a clubhouse attendant or batboy sign their name to the ball because of the tedium involved for a popular player.  It sounds disappointing and it is-but it’s also reality.  Fifty years ago, autographs really didn’t have much monetary value and players who were asked to sign hundreds per day just simply didn’t want to be bothered.  Good autograph authenticators can tell the difference.  PSA/DNA or James Spence Authentications are two good authenticators, but there are others.

Theme balls are fun.  Autographed baseballs can be created by picking a certain milestone or other theme and adding signatures to it when possible.  You can try to collect a baseball signed by pitchers who have won 300 games, pitched no-hitters or perfect games or won Cy Young Awards.  You can chase 500-home run club members, MVPs, batting champions or Rookies of the Year.  Obviously, if your theme includes a deceased player, you’ll have to find a single-signed ball from that player and then add the living players to it.  You could start with a modified theme, however.  Something like “Perfect Game pitchers from the 1980s through today” would probably work.

It’s good practice to check out authentic autographed baseballs on eBayto see what’s availalable and get ideas for building your collection.