One of two 1961 Topps Roberto Clemente graded PSA 10 sold at auction Sunday night for $131,450, more than five times what it sold for at auction just over seven years ago. 
The sale was part of the second day in Heritage Auctions’ Platinum event.
The card is the latest example in what’s become an explosive market for high-grade vintage cards. It sold for $25,092 in a Memory Lane auction held in September 2008. There are 87 ’61 Clementes rated ‘9’ by PSA, with the average selling price at around $1,200.
A 1915 Cracker Jack Walter Johnson graded PSA 9 sold in the same auction Sunday night for $101,575, also netting its owner a handsome return. The same card had sold in 2009 for $26,784.
A 1965 Topps Joe Namath set a new price record at the PSA 8 level when it sold for $28,975. Three years ago, the same card in the same grade typically sold for $5,000-$
6,000.
A 1959 Home Run Derby Mickey Mantle card graded PSA 7 sold Sunday for $28,680. The card, issued in association with the TV show that pitted sluggers of the era against each other, was one of three at that level, with only one grading higher. A 1969 Topps white letter Mantle variation, graded PSA 9, sold for $11,950.
Additional items from the Jerry Kramer Collection also sold Sunday night including the kicking shoe he wore while booting three field goals in the 1962 NFL Championship Game. It soared to $19,120. Kramer’s contracts, a college jersey and letters to him from Packers coach Vince Lombardi and Jackie Robinson, also sold.
Kramer’s Super Bowl I ring and jersey sold Saturday night during the live portion of the two-day sale.
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