Satchel Paige
Signed until 1982, so the supply is fixed — nothing new is being added to this market.
Recorded sales
| Date | What sold | Certified | Price | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-19 | Signed 1947-66 Exhibits | PSA Card VG 3 / Auto 9 | $15,250 | auction result |
| 2024-05-18 | Signed 1981 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame postcard | PSA/DNA Auto Gem Mint 10 | $15,000 | auction result |
| 2024-07-13 | Signed 1953 Topps #220 | PSA Card Authentic / Auto 10 | $10,200 | auction result |
| 2025-12-21 | Period-signed 1953 Topps #220 | PSA Card Good 2 / Auto 8 | $9,760 | auction result |
| 2022-08-28 | Signed 1981 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame postcard | PSA/DNA Auto 8 | $9,600 | auction result |
| 2024-10-06 | Signed 1981 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame postcard | PSA/DNA Auto EX-MT 6 | $6,000 | auction result |
| 2025-12-21 | Period-signed 1947-66 Exhibits | PSA Card VG 3 / Auto 10 | $5,002 | auction result |
| 2024-03-23 | Signed 1947-66 Exhibits | PSA Card Fair 1.5 / Auto 9 | $2,340 | auction result |
| 2025-05-18 | 2005 Upper Deck Signature Cuts cut signature numbered 1 of 1 | PSA Card NM-MT 8 / Auto 8 | $1,952 | auction result |
By certification level
These are 9 results this index has recorded from Heritage Auctions between 2022 and 2026, not every sale that happened. They under-represent inexpensive items, which sell constantly and are reported rarely, and they exclude private sales this index has no record of. Read them as documented evidence rather than as a complete market.
About this signature
- Status
- Signed until 1982supply is fixed
- Note
- His 1981 Perez-Steele postcard is among the hardest signatures in the set to find
- On this index
- 0 listedno sales recorded yet
What does a signed Satchel Paige item cost?
The results recorded here run from just under two thousand dollars to just over fifteen thousand, across three kinds of object: 1981 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame postcards, 1947-66 Exhibits cards and his 1953 Topps card. He died in June 1982, so the supply is closed, and the cheapest item here is a modern card built around a cut signature rather than anything he handled as a whole.
Does the autograph grade actually affect the price?
On this page, yes, and it is the clearest demonstration on the index. Three 1981 Perez-Steele postcards sold here, all the same card, all graded on the signature alone with no card grade involved. They went $15,000 at Auto 10, $9,600 at Auto 8 and $6,000 at Auto 6. Perfect order, two and a half times from top to bottom. Other pages on this index show the autograph grade explaining almost nothing, and this is why: those comparisons were across different objects. A signed baseball and a signed index card are different collectibles that happen to share a signature. Hold the object still, as these three postcards do, and the grade does exactly what it was designed to do.
Why is the Perez-Steele postcard called the toughest autograph?
Because of a gap of about a year. His card, number 125, was issued in the fifth series in 1981. He died on 8 June 1982. And a collector quoted by PSA put the rest of it plainly: "I don't think Satchel Paige was doing any shows." The best evidence is a near-complete signed set once offered at auction, assembled by a collector who chased signatures as each series came out, in person wherever he could. He got 99 of the 104 that could be signed. Paige is one of the five who eluded him.
Signatures are reproduced more often than most buyers realise, by outright forgery and also by machines and assistants signing on somebody’s behalf. Every item on this page has been examined by PSA/DNA, JSA, Beckett, SGC or CGC, and this index carries nothing else. That is a deliberate restriction, and the investigation that created the modern authentication industry is worth reading, along with what a certificate actually claims.