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Should I Have Authentication Sticker Put ON Valuable Baseball?

I'm getting ready to send in my first item for JSA Authentication. It's a Mickey Mantle ROALB. I'm a bit leery about having the authentication sticker put ON the ball and am considering having it just put on the LOA. Are there thoughts on this? Any effect on long-term desirability, either way? I just don't want to have something on the ball that may cause other variations or types of discoloration or damage, in addition to age wear on the item. But, if on-the-ball is the way to go, I may consider it. Thanks!

Tags: JSA, Mantle, Mickey

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Permalink Reply by Corey Moylan on June 14, 2018 at 1:18pm

Here is my take -

I own a pearl white Mantle ball, which I bought not knowing there was a PSA sticker on the back of the ball. I would gladly trade it for an unauthenticated ball of the same quality.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on June 14, 2018 at 1:29pm

I agree with you, Seamus. I am not a fan of TPA items. Unfortunately, more collectors seem to be dependent on them.

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Permalink Reply by Mike White on June 18, 2018 at 12:53pm

Why don't you just peel the sticker off the ball....?

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Permalink Reply by D R on April 26, 2019 at 10:35am

Hey @Seamus

Where are you located? I have a very clean Mantle I was about to send to PSA. Maybe we can help eachother out. (I'm one of those guys that prefers the PSA Letter).

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on June 14, 2018 at 1:31pm

I respectfully disagree. Sure you can tell. That's why there's a picture of the ball on the COA. And I know that's not the case on cheaper Coas, but there is a number and you can go to their site, which ever that may be and look it up. You'll see a picture of the ball in their data base. I just don't see the problem there.

Without the sticker on the ball, there is no way to prove that the ball was actually the one that was authenticated. The average buyer would consider the COA worthless unless the sticker is on the ball, matched the COA and the info in the database.

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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on June 14, 2018 at 1:40pm

I don't want a sticker on any of my items, so don't think I'm advocating for that.

But the vast majority of collectors really base their decision on the TPA. If there isn't a sticker on the ball (that matches the COA and or the database), many buyers will pass. That is just how the market is accustom to things. A ball with no hologram is going to be looked at as fishy.

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Permalink Reply by Mike White on June 18, 2018 at 1:00pm

Those buyers are idiots.

It's not hard to find a good listing on eBay with a good COA.

It's going to be a lot easier to print a fake sticker with that number on it than it is to match every nuance of a signature pictured in the database.

If you figure out how to pull off the latter seamlessly, then faking the sticker is just an extra step. It's not a layer of protection by any stretch of the imagination.

Any buyer who looks at the item, sees the picture of that exact item on the LOA, sees that the picture on the LOA is the same picture shown on the online cert check, and refuses to buy it because there's no sticker on the item itself is remarkably stupid.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 14, 2018 at 1:54pm

Some might still consider it worthless.

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Permalink Reply by James on June 14, 2018 at 1:44pm

The majority of balls do not have the sticker on the ball. The sticker is usually on the LOA. The fact that the seller has both the LOA and the sticker should be good enough. Now if the seller only has the LOA but no sticker at all, then I would be leery.

It’s when the item signed is a piece of paper, such as a photo, that I want the sticker on the item...like a photo because a photo is easy to duplicate. But if it’s placed on the photo (preferably on the back of the photo), you have less to worry about.

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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on June 14, 2018 at 1:50pm

If you look on eBay, the VAST majority of Mantle balls authenticated by JSA, PSA or Beckett have the sticker affixed.

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Permalink Reply by James on June 14, 2018 at 8:12pm

You’re probably right that the majority have the sticker on the ball. I guess it’s just that it seems like items I’ve been interested in have had the sticker on the LOA. My Babe Ruth ball has the sticker on the LOA.

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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on June 14, 2018 at 2:19pm

To make it clear, I HATE stickers on items. Especially high end. My only argument is that the market prefers the sticker on the item. I don't agree with it, but that's the truth.

Here is a prime example (ignore the price, which is ridiculous). This is a pristine Mantle ball. Encapsulated in a PSA grading cube. And there is the sticker. In my mind, slapping a sticker on a ball that perfect is a crime.

Attachments: No photo uploads here