A complete quartet of autographed 1933 Babe Ruth cards sold for nearly $1 million combined early Sunday in an auction conducted by St. Louis-based Heartland Sports Cards and Memorabilia.
The cards, consigned from a long-held private collection, were all authenticated by PSA.
Card #149, with an autograph grade of 7 was the top seller of the four, netting $358,408.
In all, the four colorful pasteboards, representing each of the Ruth cards issued in the 1933 Goudey set, brought $992,946. They sold just a few weeks after the last of six cards in another remarkable assemblage of six signed Goudey Ruths was sold at auction.
While the Ruth cards were the most eye-catching pieces of cardboard, Heartland set a record with its sale of a PSA 6 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. When bidding came to a close, the hobby’s most iconic post-World War II card had sold for $250,639 including the 20% buyer’s premium, shattering the previous mark of $132,000 set in October 2018.
A century-old financial document carrying the rare signature of Shoeless Joe Jackson was another key piece in the auction. Dated March 6, 1916, the voucher is for a $75 payment to the “Savannah Reality Investment Co., Ga. Toward the mortgage on his newly purchased $10,000 home in Savannah, GA. It sold for over $108,000.
All prices included a 20% buyer’s premium.
Nearly 400 lots of vintage sports cards and memorabilia were sold in the auction.
Complete results can be found here.