Presented here is a 1935 one-dollar silver certificate, signed in ink by none other than Babe Ruth.
Babe was a prolific signer who turned up in many places where he would unexpectedly spend time with fans, shaking hands and signing autographs. Many pictures exist of Ruth, standing in the midst of an enormous crowd, signing whatever items people happened to have: menus, baseballs, photos, business cards pages in autograph books, and virtually anything else.
What is interesting in fitting about this is that the Babe’s signature appears here on money. In 1935, Ruth’s last pro season, he was slated to earn a salary of $75,000. Always a topic of discussion, Ruth’s 1929 holdout (when his salary was raised from $52,000 to $70,000 a year) prompted a reporter to ask why Ruth should earn a greater salary than president Herbert Hoover. Ruth famously replied “I had a better year than he did.”
Ruth did everything extravagantly, with his larger-than-life persona, and it is fitting to have his signature affixed to a piece of American currency. It is Ruth’s signature that carries the value here, of course – while a dollar buys you much less in 2012 than it did in 1935, a Babe Ruth signature certainly gets you more.
Obviously well-handled, the original owner of this dollar clearly cherished it, as it is worn and wrinkled, with many folds. The signature itself, however, as authenticated by PSA/DNA, remains strong and bold – signed in front of George Washington, as only Babe Ruth could.
An outstanding, one-of-a-kind collectible featuring the most famous and highly desirable signature in all of sports collecting, emblazoned across a piece of paper that, in addition to helping prove its authenticity, is highly symbolic of Ruth’s own legend.