By Tom Kessenich
Collectors love their Presidents. Well at least two of them anyway.
The Topps 2004 American Treasures insert, which features cut signature cards of every U.S. President, have hit eBay and the initial response has been overwhelming. A Thomas Jefferson-signed card sold for $27,800 this week, while a Richard Nixon-signed card had a high bid of $15,000 at press time on Wednesday with six days remaining in the auction.
Prior to the insert’s release, which was part of the 2004 Topps Baseball Series 1 set, one autograph expert told eSCD a complete set of Presidential autographs would generally carry an estimated value between $15,000-$20,000, based on what such complete sets had sold for in the past. These two cards alone have already more than doubled that estimated value.
The high prices associated with the Jefferson and Nixon cards caught one noted industry leader by surprise.
"You can buy the finest Thomas Jefferson handwritten letter for $15,000, or a cut signature or partial document with his signature for about $4,000," said Alan Rosen, a longtime sports card dealer, memorabilia expert and Presidential collector. "I have nine Nixons in my collection - a Nixon personal check is around $4,000 because they are quite scarce, a cut signature could be $100."
The Jefferson card received 66 bids, while the Nixon card had generated 48 bids at press time. Understandably, the strong response has Topps officials quite pleased.
"It's very exciting to see so many people enthusiastic about this program," Topps spokesman Clay Luraschi said. "Most importantly, it's drawing a ton of interest from outside the hobby to 2004 Topps Baseball. Your non-traditional-collector wants to see what all the excitement is about. We obviously knew there would be a chase factor involved, but this has become more like ‘The Hunt for the Golden Ticket’ from Willy Wonka. It's all very exciting."