Legendary T206 Doyle Variation Headlines REA Fall Auction

Robert Edward Auctions will be offering one of the rarest, most valuable baseball cards in existence when its fall catalog auction opens next week.

A T206 “Slow Joe” Doyle “NY Nat’l” variation, one of fewer than ten examples known to exist and graded SGC 50 (VG/EX), will carry a $100,000 reserve but is expected to go much higher. The card is from the same set as the famous T206 Wagner, but it is actually about ten times rarer and is the key stumbling block to completion of the classic T206 master set.  A different example of the same card graded PSA 3 sold for $414,750 at REA in 2012.

The card being offered by REA once belonged to well-known hobbyist Charlie Conlon and is the highest graded example in the hobby.  It’s also making a return to REA.  Back in 2009, the same example sold in the company’s annual spring auction for $329,000.  If you’re unfamiliar with the Doyle error, you can learn more here.

More than 1300 lots make up this year’s REA fall auction, which will run from September 28 through October 17.

The Doyle card is one of many rare, vintage cards that will be up for grabs.  Collectors will also have a chance to bid on Babe Ruth’s 1916 Sporting News rookie card graded VG, Joe Jackson’s 1917 Boston Store card graded EX+, Josh Gibson’s 1951 Toleteros rookie card graded VG-EX, and several 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards, including examples graded NM-MT and EX+.

Other newly discovered items also promise to intrigue advanced collectors including an 1868 Atlantics Peck & Snyder advertising trade card (one of the earliest of all baseball cards), an 1895 N566 Newsboy Tobacco Cabinet John Ward (arms folded), and only the second known example of a 1921 Babe Ruth Proctor’s Theatre Vaudeville advertising card.

One of the hobby’s most comprehensive 1952 Topps collections also highlights the auction. The collection features the hobby’s #2-ranked “Super Set” consisting of all 407 cards in a basic set, all eighty red and black-back variations, back variations for Page, Sain, and Campos (black star), and 60 “Canadian” gray backs. The 407-card basic set boasts a 7.87 GPA overall, highlighted by 14 mint 9s and dozens of stars, Hall of Famers, and high numbers graded NM-MT 8 and NM 7. Also included in the collection is a 75% complete autographed master set consisting of approximately 350 cards all encapsulated by PSA/DNA. Highlights include 27 rare high numbers and several notable rarities, such as a possibly unique gray-back Stan Rojek.

Other auction highlights include:

• Numerous 19^th Century Rarities, including N172 Harry Wright, Amos Rusie, John Ward, and Ed Delehanty; N173 Cap Anson, Dan Brouthers, and two Dogs Head Cabinets; and N184 Kimball Champions Near-Complete Set
• 1909-1911 T206 White Border PSA- and SGC-Graded Partial Set (382/524)
• 1909-1911 T206 White Back Rare Backs Including Brown Lenox, Broadleaf 460, Drum, Uzit, Hindu, and Carolina Brights, as well as several printing errors and variations
• 1910 E98 Master Set Collection of Complete Red, Green, and Orange Sets plus rare Old Put Backs
• New Find of 7 1911 T205 Drum Backs Including Hal Chase
• 1911 T3 Turkey Red Collection of 50 Including Highest-Graded Cy Young, Ty Cobb, and Other Hall of Famers
• 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders Complete Set (132): #7 PSA Set Registry
• 1912 T207 Brown Background Collection Including SGC-Graded Near-Complete Set (174/206), EX-MT Louis Lowdermilk, and dozens of rare Broadleaf and Cycle backs
• 1914 E145 Cracker Jack #30 Ty Cobb PSA EX 5
• 1933 R300 George C. Miller SGC-Graded Complete Set
• 1933 R319 Goudey #181 Babe Ruth PSA NM 7
• 1933 R319 Goudey Uncut Sheet with Five Hall of Famers Including #181 Babe Ruth
• Two 1933 V353 World Wide Gum (Canadian Goudey) Uncut Sheets with Hall of Famers Including Lou Gehrig
• 1948 Leaf Original-Owner Collection Including PSA EX+ 5.5 Satchel Paige and PSA NM 7 Jackie Robinson
• 1953 Bowman Color #59 Mickey Mantle PSA MINT 9
• 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente RC PSA NM 7
• 1959 Topps PSA-Graded Complete Set (572) – 7.31 GPA
• 1948 to 1955 Bowman and 1952 to 1979 Topps Complete Sets

Memorabilia and autograph collectors will find numerous baseballs signed by former big league legends including the highest-graded Jimmie Foxx Single-Signed Baseball graded PSA 9, a new-to-the-hobby Babe Ruth single-signed ball graded PSA EX-MT+ 6.5, and a Mel Ott single-signed ball with a full name inscription.

Additionally, the first installment of a remarkable Hall of Fame autograph collection will be featured, with more than 40 lots spanning the 19th century to the present. Highlights include a Circa 1880s Jim O’Rourke Signed Sheet, a 1910 Joe Kelley Handwritten Letter, a 1919-1923 Ross Youngs Signed Album Page, a 1928 Exhibit Card Signed by Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson, and an extremely rare 1933 Ed Hanlon Typed-Signed Letter.

Other highlights include:

• 1868 Deacon/Muller Baseball Figural Statues
• 1879 Alexander Cartwright Signed Check PSA/DNA MINT 9
• 1923 New York Yankees Opening Day Program
• 1923 New York Yankees Opening Day Ticket Stub with Printed Date
• 1928-1930 Tony Lazzeri Pro-Model Bat
• 1931-1933 Jimmie Foxx Signed Philadelphia Athletics Contract – Covering His Two MVP Seasons and Triple Crown Year
• 1932 R328 U.S. Caramel Babe Ruth Signed Baseball Card
• Exceptional Babe Ruth Cut Signature PSA/DNA GEM MINT 10
• 1947 Jackie Robinson News Photo Used For 1948-1949 Leaf Rookie Card – PSA/DNA Type 1
• 1951 Original One-Sheet Movie-Poster Artwork for Superman and the Mole Men
• 1954 Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio Signed Autograph Sheet – Signed “Marilyn Monroe DiMaggio” – PSA/DNA
• 1957 Jackie Robinson NAACP “Time To Score For Civil Rights” Advertising Poster (Robinson Family Provenance!)
• 1963 Carl Alan Award Presented to The Beatles – The Most Outstanding Group of 1963!
• 1961-1964 Roberto Clemente Pro-Model Bat with Outstanding Provenance
• 1967-1970 Johnny Bench Rookie-Era Pro-Model Bat
• 1978 New York Yankees World Series Ring
• The Extraordinary Mike Brown Baseball Sheet Music Collection (460)
• Fidel Castro Single-Signed Baseball
• Hetty Green Document Collection with Three Exceedingly Rare Signatures – Legendary Financier – The Witch of Wall Street

“This is now the third fall auction we’ve run, and the response to the first two was tremendous. The feedback we’ve received from buyers and sellers alike really confirmed to us that there’s just an enormous demand for the services we provide, far greater than can be satisfied by just one auction per year,” said REA President Robert Lifson. “An essential ingredient that makes our auctions so special is the enormous amount of work that is invested in each auction. That will never change. Whether we have one, two, or someday three auctions per year, the one thing we can promise is that every auction will be extremely carefully assembled and a special event. This auction is no exception, and it has an incredible number of outstanding items.”

REA’s catalogs are free for the asking. “You don’t have to bid to receive a catalog,” Lifson stated. “It is our great pleasure to send them out, for free, to anyone who is interested in the types of items we offer. We’re very much looking forward to collectors getting the catalog in their hands. Sending out catalogs is one of the ways we promote interest in the hobby and collecting, as well as in our auctions. So many collectors today tell us they got their start learning about the hobby through REA catalogs. That’s a great feeling, even if it’s starting to make me feel old!”

Catalogs for the auction begin mailing September 25, and bidding begins September 28. The final day for bidding will be Saturday, October 17. For a free catalog and to register for the auction, visit www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com. The company is already working on assembling their Spring Auction, slated for April 2016, and is accepting consignments through the end of the year. For more information, call 908-226-9900 or visit www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com.

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]