A quartet of iconic sports cards and an unprecedented ticket stub collection dominated the action in Mile High Card Company’s July Auction which closed early Friday morning.
Leading the way was a pair of rare Babe Ruth cards with a 1916 D350-1 Standard Biscuit #151 Babe Ruth PSA 2 selling for $125,443 and a 1917 H801-8 Boston Store #147 Ruth SGC 3.5 bringing in $124,473. Also of note were a pair of highly-prized cards produced in the 21st century; an SGC 10 (Gem Mint) 2000 Playoff Contenders #144 Tom Brady Rookie Ticket Autographed that sold for $75,667 and a 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft autographed Gold Refractor Mike Trout PSA 9 (autograph grade 10) that brought in $50,946.
“Everyone is excited about the National, our Babe Ruth autographed baseball giveaway and the T206 Wagner and Cobb with Cobb back cards in ‘The Event’ coming in October, but first things first,” said MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent. “This July Auction did extremely well, offering many new items out of the norm. We are continuing to expand our bidder base as we gear up for the best auction in our company’s history.”
Other key cards sold in the wee hours of Friday morning included a 1957 Topps #138 John Unitas rookie card (SGC Mint 9) that brought down $37,564, the only PSA 10 1967 Topps #242 NL RBI Leaders Aaron/Clemente/Allen PSA 10 that sold for $13,003, a 1910 E98 Set of 30 Hans Wagner (red background) PSA 9 that closed at $16,765 and PSA 8 (green) that brought in $7,686, a 1912 T202 Hassan Cigarettes #129 Ty Cobb Steals Third SGC 7.5 ($7,227) and a 1922 E120 American Caramel Babe Ruth PSA 3.5 ($8,456).
A 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA 2 understandably saw plenty of action before closing at $14,719. Also sold were a 1957 Topps #400 Dodgers’ Sluggers PSA 9 ($7,696), a 1958 Topps #312 Red Sox Team Checklist PSA 10 that brought an eye-popping $8,485, a 1961 Topps Dice Game Don Drysdale SGC 1 that shattered the previous sales record at $11,976, a 1968 Topps #177 Nolan Ryan rookie card PSA 8.5 ($7,435), a 1966 Philadelphia #41 Jim Brown PSA 9 ($11,641) and a 1960 Hemmets Journal #23 Cassius Clay PSA 9 ($13,791).
Collectors of unopened material were treated to several lots including a 1970 Topps 4th series baseball unopened box that soared to $29,407, a rare 1957-58 Topps basketball wax pack (GAI 6.5) that netted $17,165, a six box case of 1979 Topps baseball ($17,021), a three-box case of 1978 Topps baseball ($11,541) and an extremely rare 1967 Topps Punch-Out wax pack (the only one known to exist) that sold for $5,780.
There was a strong selection of exclusive memorabilia and autographed items in the July Auction with a fresh-to-the-hobby example of a 1910s Ty Cobb “Fan for a Fan” that sold for $15,589 as well as a 1927 Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Type I Original Photograph ($8,636) and a Babe Ruth single-signed Pacific Coast League Ball PSA/DNA graded NM/MT 8 ($41,344).
Other key items were a Jimmie Foxx single-signed baseball that landed at $12,697, a 1930 New York Yankees team-signed OAL (Barnard) ball with 17 signatures including Ruth and Gehrig that sold for $4,342, a 1950s Negro League ball with 15 autographs including Roy Campanella and Alex Pompez ($7,348) and a 1931 world champions St. Louis Cardinals team-signed ONL (Heydler) ball with 18 autographs including Jim Bottomley ($4,429).
A comprehensive collection of over 500 lots of tickets and related material totaled over $155,000, led by several stubs from notable MLB debut games including one representing the first game of Hall of Famer Jesse Haines from 1918 ($4,465); Eddie Mathews in 1952 ($4,465); Mickey Mantle in 1951 ($3,565), Nolan Ryan in 1966 ($3,241) and Rickey Henderson in 1979 ($3,047).
Others sold included a rare 1908 World Series (Detroit) full ticket ($4,342), a 1934 Washington Senators stub from Babe Ruth’s last game as a Yankee ($3,923), another from the 1915 World Series ($2,454); and a 1962 Philadelphia Warriors stub from Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game 100 ( $3,660).
For complete auction results and more information, visit Mile High’s website.
Mile High’s October auction will be headlined by two of the most iconic baseball cards ever produced; T206 Honus Wagner PSA 2 and T206 Ty Cobb with rare Ty Cobb Back PSA 4.5. Both will be among the October items on display at the company’s booth at the 2019 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, July 31 – August 4. MHCC be taking consignments and entering collectors in their annual NSCC giveaway. This year’s item is an autographed Babe Ruth baseball. For each $500 of value consigned, you’ll get a ticket for the drawing which will take place on Sunday. The Wagner and Cobb cards will be on display, as well as many other items slated to be in the October auction.
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