One savvy collector has decided that the magical 2011 World Championship run of the St. Louis Cardinals and their future Hall of Fame first baseman provides the perfect storm to unload what the auction house is calling the greatest collection of Albert Pujols rookie cards ever assembled.
“Just 1,000 copies of the 2001 Donruss Elite Pujols card were ever printed,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Heritage Sports Auctions. “Our consignor bought every one he could find.”
He wound up with 315. Each card is serialized at the left edge in gold numerals.
The assemblage is almost equally divided between professionally graded and “raw” examples and includes 10 exceedingly rare and valuable autographed examples. Dozens carry authentication grades of 8-10.
High bid as of late Thursday was $28,000, without the buyer’s premium.
“This opportunity to control such a significant percentage of one of the most important trading cards of the 21st century is unprecedented in the collecting hobby,” said Ivy. “We can only imagine what the value of this collection will be once Albert has rewritten the record books at the close of his career.”
The auction is presented in an online only Extended Bidding format, closing Saturday, Dec. 4 at 10 p.m. CT.
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