A quintet of high-grade 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards sold for over $2.7 million as Memory Lane closed out its Spring Rarities Auction early Sunday morning.
The cards were part of a large collection curated by the late Manny Gordon, a diamond dealer and avid collector who sought out some of the best examples he could locate.
The top seller from the collection was a PSA 8 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53. One of 13 graded 8 by PSA, the card sold for $942,000, by far a record for the grade.
Last year, Memory Lane sold the lone higher example, a 9, for $4.2 million. The other three Ruth cards from the collection were also graded 8 and included #144 ($384,608), #149 ($510,000) and #181 ($268,736).
One of just five PSA 9 examples of the 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig #92 was the second highest selling in the item at a record smashing $672,000.
Other Goudey cards sold included a PSA 9 1934 Hank Greenberg ($218,579), a ’34 Gehrig #61 ($147,484), a ’33 Gehrig #160 ($133,906) and a ’33 Mel Ott PSA 9 ($149,794).
A group of high-grade 1958 Topps Baseball also saw numerous records fall. The lone PSA 10 Sandy Koufax rocketed to $449,389, the only PSA 10 Frank Robinson reached $230,219, a PSA 9 Hank Aaron yellow letters variation netted $173,582 and a PSA 9 Ted Williams landed at $132,876. Two other cards topped the six-figure mark.
Unopened pack collectors chased a one-of-a-kind 1948 Leaf scarce series pack, which reached a final price of $135,484, and a 1976 Topps Football cello pack with a Walter Payton rookie card on top that netted $42,864.
Memorabilia collectors saw a 1920 New York Giants team signed baseball sell for $34,070, with provenance from the family of team member A.J. Statz.
The entire auction generated sales of over $13.9 million.
Complete results are available here.
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