3rd Best 1959 Topps Set Brings Over $300,000 in Mile High Auction

One of the hobby’s top 1959 Topps baseball card sets is on its way to a new home—for a whopper of a price.

Mile High Card Company sold the third ranked set on the PSA Registry for $301,907 in its catalog auction early Friday morning.  Four cards in the 572-card issue are graded 10; eight, including Mickey Mantle rated 8 and the other 560 cards in the set are graded PSA 9. 

The auction also included a signed first day cover from the inaugural 1939 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction.  Autographed by Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Walter Johnson and other early inductees and rated PSA/DNA 9, the amazing envelope landed at $141,412.  An American League baseball featuring 16 signatures from that same landmark event sold for $28,683.

The auction also featured a rare surviving 1910 Peach Baseball Gloves advertising piece that included images of some of baseball’s early 20^th century stars.  The framed and restored 19 ½” x 29 ¾” display soared to $55,409.

“There were so many items that exceeded expectations that we haven’t had a chance to fully break it down yet, but it was definitely a good day for both bidders and consignors,” said MHCC owner and President Brian Drent of the auction, which included more than 1,900 items.

Eighty-five lots from the personal estate of Hall of Famer “Sunny Jim” Bottomley brought in a combined sum of over $76,000, led by a Professional Model H&B Game-Used 1926 World Series Bat PSA/DNA GU 10 at $23,595, his 1931 St. Louis Cardinals World Series ring ($21,400), his 1926 St. Louis Cardinals National League Champions 14K gold pocket watch ($7,851) and a 1932 Dizzy Dean rookie year warmup jacket ($13,000).

Bidders also honed in on a 1933 Goudey #149 Babe Ruth PSA 8 that realized $114,375. The value of that particular card has tripled in the span of about five years.  Other sales included an 1888-89 Old Judge N173 Cap Anson Cabinet SGC 60 EX 5 that sold for $13,133, a 1911 Sporting Life Cabinets M110 Christy Mathewson SGC 60 EX 5 that got heavy bidding and closed at $18,329, a 1948 Leaf #4 Stan Musial PSA 8 NM/MT hammering at $20,715, a 1952 Bowman #101 Mickey Mantle PSA 8 NM/MT selling for $10,247, 1957 Topps #400 Dodgers Sluggers PSA 9 MINT, another heavily contested card according to Mile High officials, that sold for $8,380 and a “white letter” variation 1969 Topps #500 Mickey Mantle that closed at $23,363.

A 1951 Topps Ringside Boxing Complete Set #3 Current Finest on PSA Set Registry with 8.21 Set Rating was broken up and sold for a combined total of $20,065.  Other top-ranked collections sold in the auction  included a 1952 Topps Near Complete Set (406/407) including numerous graded cards at $34,012 and the second best 1966 Topps Topps football seet on the PSA Set Registry (8.898 set rating) at $14,487. One of the biggest battles of the night was over a 2000 Upper Deck SP Football unopened case that went back and forth before settling at $27,317.

MHCC offered a large selection of vintage unopened packs that brought in unexpectedly high prices, led by a 1959 Topps baseball pack graded NM/MT 8 that sold for $8,636.  A 1963 Topps baseball cello pack NM+ 7.5 went for $2,971, a 1965 Topps baseball cello rated NM+ 7.5 hammered at $2,677, a 1971 Topps baseball pack graded 9 reached $2,472, a 1960 Topps baseball nickel wax pack graded 8.5 settled at $1,659, a 1968 Topps Baseball wax pack graded 8 sold for $1,029 and a 1961 Fleer basketball pack graded 8 finished up at $2,572.

MHCC is accepting consignments for its next auction in September and will be at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland August 1-5.  A full list of realized prices and information on consigning to their upcoming auctions is available at www.milehighcardco.com.

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]