A new rush of spring catalog auctions heads for the finish line with more eye-popping bids already pushing prices of vintage baseball cards to previously unseen levels.
Memory Lane’s Spring catalog closes Saturday night with a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card graded PSA 9 topping all bids as of late Wednesday. The card is part of what was the top Aaron basic set on PSA’s Registry. The current high bid, with the 20% buyer’s premium factored in, stands at over $217,000, which would be the most ever paid. The old mark of $197,527 had been set in January. A PSA 8 Aaron rookie had soared to over $32,000. In 2012, most sold for under $5,000.
The top price for a PSA 8 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card was established in January with a $137,425 sale achieved by Heritage Auctions, but that appears destined to fall by Sunday morning with a card offered by Memory Lane sitting at $133,000.
Mile High Card Company’s May auction ends Thursday night, with extended bidd
ing commencing at 9PM EST. MHCC has seen strong bidding since the auction began on April 18 and anticipates several key items to shatter previous record prices.
A 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA 6.5 has already set a new mark by topping $167,000 with the buyer’s premium. Goldin Auctions‘ 1952 Topps Mantle graded PSA 5 is hurdling toward the $59,000 record that was set last year.
A pair of 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente rookie cards are presently pulling in over $64,000 in Mile High’s catalog (Memory Lane is also offering one).
Other hotly contested items there include a 1914 Cracker Jack #30 Ty Cobb PSA 8 NM/MT at $74,122, 1902-11 Sporting Life W600 Honus Wagner SGC 50 VG/EX 4 that is presently bid to $48,852, and a 1984-85 Star #101 Michael Jordan BGS 9 MINT at $41,716. The newly discovered 1915 E145 Cracker Jack advertising display poster found in a Wisconsin barn, one of less than five known to exist, is steadily moving upward and is presently at $43,334.
Other lots expected to see competitive action throughout extended bidding are near complete T-206 and 1933 Goudey sets, and over 140 1952 Topps cards graded PSA 8 or PSA 9, including 1952 Topps #261 Willie Mays PSA 8 that’s already blown past the $34,000 mark. A 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle graded PSA 9 is pushing toward $25,000. Just four years ago, you could have bought one for under $3,000.
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