Mile High Card Company pulled the curtain down on its final auction of 2015, headed by some big-time rarities and more than a few record prices.
Some of the biggest names and most coveted cards were part of the auction, which featured more than 500 items.
A 1956 Topps gray back card of Mickey Mantle that carried a PSA 9 grade was the highest seller, with a realized price of $42,549. A lot of T206 cards, which featured 475 of the 520 in the basic set — 80 of which were graded — sold for $42,130. Accompanying the latter was one of the “big four” cards in the set, a rare T206 Eddie Plank graded PSA 1, sold for $41,345.
All prices include the usual buyer’s premium.
“Even as strong as our hobby is right now, I’m still amazed at the groundbreaking prices we’ve realized over the past few auctions,” Mile High President/CEO Brian Drent said.
Two other items topped $30,000 by the time bidding ended early Friday morning.
A 1933 Goudey card of Nap Lajoie, with a SGC grade of 6.5, sold for $32,012, while a baseball signed by Babe Ruth fetched $30,118.
1952 Topps Mantle card generates interest at an auction, and a PSA 4 specimen of the Mick pulled in $27,088. A ’52 Topps near set, just 30 cards shy of completion, brought in $24,627.
Other big names that were snapped up at auction include a PSA 6 1888 N162 Goodwin Champions Cap Anson ($11,641), an SGC 10 1911 M110 Sporting Life Ty Cobb ($6,351), an SGC 88 1915 Cracker Jack Christy Mathewson ($11,641), and a PSA 5 1915 E106 American Caramel Honus Wagner ($10,492).
Among the record prices for single cards were a 1933 Goudey #230 Carl Hubbell PSA 8 for $3,079, a 1955 Topps #64 Gus Triandos PSA 9 for $4,352, a 1955 Topps #92 Don Zimmer PSA 9 for $6,202,1955 Topps #154 Willie Miranda PSA 9 for $1,131, a 1958 Topps #1 Ted Williams PSA 8 for $2,748, a 1963 Fleer #46 Joe Adcock PSA 10 for $2,064,a 1963 Fleer #59 Bill Mazeroski PSA 10 for $3,596 and a 1970 Transogram Roberto Clemente PSA 9 that brought in a whopping $4,145.
Complete Topps sets from 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1963 (including a PSA 7 Pete Rose rookie card), 1964, 1967 and 1970 also did well. There was also a complete, high-grade set of 1951 Topps red and blue backs that sold for $4,561.
The auction items were not limited to baseball. A 1969 Topps football unopened rack pack sold for $3,660, while the tenth best 1969 football set on PSA’s Registry netted $10,247.13. The hobby’s top-rated set of 1970 Topps Glossy inserts soared to $7,851.
Among the memorabilia items sold was a 1915 Joe Jackson Type I Photograph that was heavily contested and sold for $9,898, a 1922 Christy Mathewson signed check with a letter from his wife to a collector that reached $21,400 and a Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig signed barnstorming tour photo rated PSA/DNA MINT 9 that went to the high bidder for $18,049.
Mile High’s next auction is scheduled for early spring 2019. For consignment information, visit the company’s website.