Baseball Tintypes

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Posted By: Nick Martinez

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6137397521&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Ever have that sinking feeling when you meet the reserve on an item and no one else bids after that? I like the image and I am looking forward to getting the item I just though I may have paid above market.

What is the current market on a baseball tintype?

Regards,
Nick

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Posted By: Kevin O

I find quite a few tintypes here in the northeast. I would say I find two or more for every decent CDV. I generally pay about $200 for them because I'm usually purchasing them in a much larger lot. I've never gotten less than $350 for a decent tintype, and I normally get closer to $400. This seems like a pretty nice tintype, especially with the clear view of the ring bat. It would look great in an inexpensive case, and would have probably sold for a bit more that way. I think you paid a fair price--certainly nothing to regret. Enjoy it!

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Posted By: ramram

$400 - $600 for a solid image of an unidentified single player with equipment seems to be the going price from what I've seen. Team pics and identified teams or players can bring even more.

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Posted By: Rob L

Nah Nick, you did well. I have purchased quite a few tintypes off the internet and the price you paid is fair since the image is clear and the ring bat is readily identifiable as such. Nice images showing specific types of equipment always go for a premium. As for the other bidders, they always bid on the tintypes, particularly bcdtiger. He actually used to win most of these auctions until earlybball (jason wright) began winning many of these images. He has one of the best collections of 19th century baseball images that I have ever seen.

Definitely a great pickup.

Rob L

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Posted By: Judge Dred

Nick,

Do you ever wonder how much the high bid would have been if the seller posted this in the pre 1930 category?

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Posted By: hankron

Baseball tintypes are scarce on the market, so getting one's hands on most any sort of baseball tintype is a nice deal. Tintypes of boxers can be found with some regularity. If I recall correctly, someone on this board showed a tintype of a football player. You don't see many of those at all.

Beyond the quality of the image (subject, uniforms, clarity, etc), two keys to be aware of are size and age. All other things equivilant, the larger the more expensive. If you ever see an auction with a 'full plate' baseball tintype, that's the largest size, rare and highly desirable. Tintypes from the 1870s and earlier are scarce and typically expensive. Usually, the uniform and equipment will identify the early examples.

Only a handful of known baseball tintypes show Hall of Famers or even known Major Leaguers. Most tintypes show folks no one can identify, which has never stopped them from being collectable.

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Posted By: hankron

I forgot to add that, if you notice, many tintypes come in fancy cases. These cases look like little wall frames, but are actually little custom boxes that can be opened and closed. That's how they housed most tintypes way back when. If you have a tintype without a case you can find on eBay and elsewhere empty cases for your tintype. You can pick a case from the correct era if you wish. It's also okay to be oblivious of age and pick a case based solely on the color and design.

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Posted By: ramram

To further what David has said -

The cases can also help date the tintype. Cases for tintypes, for the most part, disappeared after the civil war (1865). This was because of cost. CDV's had become mainstream by the end of the war and cased tintypes were too expensive to compete with them. They began selling the tintypes without a case. For this reason, most uncased tintypes have bends, scratches and creases in them. Some people will purchase cases and place these old tintypes in them just to help protect them. This can sometimes make it difficult to date a tintype. This is when it becomes important to look at the type of clothing/uniform as well as the type of backdrop used in the image (for those that have seen a lot of tintypes, you can also tell the age by the focus...the background tends to be less well focused in the earlier images). Also, if the image has bends, which it wouldn't get if it had been cased since it's purchase, it probably was placed in the case more recently. You can also look for mat marks. Cased images have a brass "mat" over the top of them, usually in an oval or rectangular shape. These mats would usually leave a mark on the tintype. So...if there are mat marks it usually means it was original to the case and therefore most likely pre-1865. Another small hint can be in the backdrop. Pre-1865 tintypes usually have no backdrop or a very plain backdrop. Post-1865 images started having fancier backdrops including fake grass and split-rail fences.

By the way, here is the football tintype that David mentioned. It is circa 1870. It is the only football tintype that I have ever seen. It was uncased, with some small bends, when I got it (I placed it in a quarter-plate size case for its protection). Because the players have long pants on instead of knickers then the uniforms would hint at pre-1870. The fake grass and fancier backdrop hints at post-1865 as does the fact that it was originally uncased. Thus the dating of c. 1870.