The second major sports memorabilia auction of 2020 gets underway Monday as Mile High Card Company opens its January catalog. The launch comes just a few months after their last auction billed as ‘The Event’, which featured the $1.35 million sale of a T206 Wagner.
There’s no Wagner this time around, but the sale does include some valuable cards, vintage unopened material and some historic bats and jerseys. Collectors will be seeing some of them for the first time in decades while others have never been offered to the hobby until now.
A game-used Mickey Mantle jersey, worn during the first half of his Triple Crown 1956 season, a game-used Ty Cobb bat from his 1922 season rated PSA/DNA GU 10, and a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle graded PSA 8, are just a few of them.
“We didn’t think it possible to repeat the magnitude of ‘The Event’ in such a short turnaround time but what we’ve got to start of the 2020 year is even better with a good many items set to establish new standards of value,” promised MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent.
Among the other big-ticket items, all of which should reach six figures are a 1929-30 era Babe Ruth bat graded PSA/DNA GU 9 with a provenance that suggests it may have been used to hit three of his 714 homers; a signed 1960 Mickey Mantle World Series bat; an autographed 1921 Babe Ruth Exhibit and a one-of-a-kind 1933 R136 National Chicle Sky Birds unopened box with 91 packs.
Additional game-used material in the catalog is highlighted by a 1964 Al Kaline Detroit Tigers autographed road jersey; what’s billed as the last major league jersey ever worn by Ted Williams during his stint as manager of the Texas Rangers; a 1968 Harmon Killebrew game model bat with 28 signatures including Killebrew, Rod Carew and Billy Martin and a 1976 Hank Aaron Milwaukee Brewers bicentennial Louisville Slugger Bat (MEARS A9).
Two top-ranked baseball card sets will be offered in their entirety as well as individual lots with the method of sale determined by whichever total is higher. The ninth best T206 set on the PSA Set Registry With 4.27 GPA is expected to fetch a big price while the third ranked set of 1971 Topps Greatest Moments is also up for grabs. Two vintage PSA Set Registry listed hockey sets; the 1910 Imperial Tobacco C55 and C56 collections, will be broken up and sold exclusively as individual lots.
Individual vintage cards include a 1887 N690-1 Kalamazoo Bats Athletic Club Cabinet SGC Authentic, an 1895 Mayo’s Cut Plug N300 Cap Anson SGC 80 EX/MT 6, a 1933 DeLong #21 Jimmy Foxx PSA 8 NM/MT, a 1934 Goudey Premium R309-1 Babe Ruth SGC 84 NM 7, a 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle SGC 7 NM, a 1954 Wilson Franks Bob Feller SGC 96 MINT 9, a 1955 Topps #123 Sandy Koufax rookie PSA 8 NM/MT, a 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente rookie PSA 7 NM, a1968 Topps #50 Willie Mays SGC 10 and a PSA 10 1970 Topps #189 Thurman Munson rookie. The baseball and basketball selection is highlighted by a 1971 Topps #156 Terry Bradshaw rookie PSA 9 and a PSA 10 2003 Topps Chrome Xfractor #111 LeBron James #107/220.
Rare photos, unopened material, autographs, PSA Set Registry collections and other items are also part of the catalog. Headliners include a 1948 Nat Fein Type I Original Photo “The Babe Bows Out” signed by Fein, a 1915 Joe Jackson Type I Original Photograph by Paul Thompson, a 1925 Lou Gehrig Rookie Year Type I photo by Charles Conlon, a Babe Ruth signed photo rated PSA/DNA 10, bank checked signed by Ruth and Mel Ott, a rare 1967 Topps Punch Out unopened pack, a 1968 Bazooka full box with Mantle, 1970 and 1971 Topps football unopened boxes, a 2017 Panini National Treasures Football 4-box case and a high-grade 1964 Philadelphia football set.
The auction is set to run through Thursday, January 23 on the Mile High website.
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