Dozens of popular pre-War baseball cards, including two of the rarest T206 cards on the checklist, are among hundreds of lots in Clean Sweep Auctions’ first major event of 2024.
A T206 Ray Demmitt graded SGC 2 and a Bill O’Hara rated SGC 1.5 join several Hall of Famers from “the monster” in the online catalog.
A Ty Cobb ‘bat on shoulder’ with a Sovereign 350 back graded PSA 3 and an SGC Cy Young portrait graded SGC 4 are among the listings.
Other rarities include a quartet of the very rare M110 Sporting Life Cabinet cards from 1911: Honus Wagner, Frank Chance, Nap Lajoie and Christy Mathewson represent a very small number of surviving examples from the sports newspaper’s entry into card production more than a century ago.
Other top cards in the sale include an SGC 5 copy of the 1887 Allen & Ginter Mike “King” Kelly, a 1907 Dietsche Ty Cobb postcard (name on front variation) graded SGC 1, a scarce 1908 Rose Postcard featuring Hall of Famer Addie Joss and a group of 1911 Turkey Red Cabinets including Walter Johnson, Eddie Collins, Home Run Baker, Rube Waddell and Addie Joss.
Key lots continue with a 1921 Exhibit Babe Ruth PSA 2, a 1928 Harrington’s Ice Cream Ruth SGC 1.5, a 1933 George C. Miller Dizzy Dean SGC 3, a pair of 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig cards (PSA 2, SGC 3.5), a 1933 Goudey 149 Ruth SGC 5, a 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams rookie SGC 3, a 1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson RC Beckett 2, a PSA 9 1950 Callahan set, a 1951 Bowman Mantle and Willie Mays rookie cards, a 1952 Berk Ross Mantle PSA 3, a 1952 Bowman Mantle PSA 5, a 1954 Johnson Cookies Aaron RC PSA 7 and a 1958 Hires Root Beer with tab Willie Mays PSA 7.
Complete sets include 1957 and ’67 Topps (the latter featuring 90 graded cards).
There’s an autographed 1953 Bowman Color Mickey Mantle, a PSA 8 Jackie Robinson signed Hall of Fame postcard and a 1931 Yankees team signed ball ball.
Fans of unopened material will see a 1988 Fleer basketball wax box and a 1986 Topps football rack box.
The auction opens with a fresh to the hobby 1939 Joe Cronin Boston Red Sox road flannel jersey that is rated a 9 by MEARS.
Other items of note include a run of Chicago Cubs signed team sets going back to the 1950s, 13 different Derek Jeter autographed cards, with most signed prior to his MLB debut in the mid-1990s and a Lou Gehrig autograph.
Basketball card collectors will see two Bird/Magic rookies and two Michael Jordan rookies while the football section contains vfntage sets, Tom Brady rookie cards and a ticket from the 1958 “greatest game” between the Colts and the Giants.
Baseball memorabilia closes out the auction with 19th century Chicago Cubs home scorecards, a1906 Red Sox scorecard, a 1920 Who’s Who with Babe Ruth on the cover and numerous World Series items. There’s also a 1912 tabletop baseball game, an original telephone from Ebbett’s Field, tickets, pennants and a high-grade set of Hartland statues.