More high-grade vintage cards; more record setting prices.
Mile High Card Company’s Elite January Auction drew dozens of bids on its January 4 opening day and with sustained traffic leading right up to the close late Friday night, some eye-popping realized prices were the end result.
Leading the charge was the sale of a PSA 9 (mint) example of the 1954 Topps #128 Henry Aaron rookie card that, according to the auction house, “had several high-profile collectors” battling deep into the night. When the hammer finally dropped, the card had sold for $192,547. There are 22 PSA 9 Aaron cards in existence along with two PSA 10s.
“We’re very pleased with the final result of the Hank Aaron rookie card, which was more than three times the amount of the last public sale just over a year ago,” said MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent. “Prices across the board were very strong in this auction, so it appears that the bull market continues to achieve exceptionally strong results.”
The PSA 9 Aaron wasn’t the only debut of “Hammerin’ Hank” to set a record as a PSA 8 example also moved to the top of the charts with a sale of $28,449.
Collectors of 1950 Bowman football and 1955 Topps All-American football were given the opportunity to raise the level of their collections though the breakup of both #1 PSA Set Registry 
rated sets, and certainly took advantage of it. When all was said and done, the 1950 Bowman collection brought in a whopping cumulative sum of $127,800, led by 1950 Bowman #45 Otto Graham PSA 9 MINT, which obliterated the previous record price with a sale at $17,025.
Other strong prices from the set include #1 Doak Walker PSA 8 at $5,958, #43 Marion Motley PSA 9 at $4,523, #78 Dante Lavelli PSA 9 at $4,833, and the only #144 Knox Ramsey graded PSA 10, which sold for $5,923.
The 1955 Topps All-American set, which brought in $91,140 in total, was paced by #64 Benny Friedman PSA 9 which changed hands at $6,900, a #37 Jim Thorpe PSA 9 at $6,715 and a #97 Don Hutson PSA 9 at $6,704.
All prices include a buyer’s premium.
Other major sales included a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson PSA 8 (OC), which sold for $15,330, a 1915 Cracker Jack #57 Walter Johnson SGC 96 that went for $26,867, an SGC 96 1933 Goudey #92 Lou Gehrig that brought in $57,183, a 1952 Bowman #101 Mickey Mantle SGC 96 that hammered at $27,095, and the only PSA 10 1962 Topps #218 Joe Torre, which caught the attention of many bidders before realizing $15,535.
The only 1970 Topps #140 Reggie Jackson PSA 10 went back and forth between bidders throughout the night and soared to $43,101, while a 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson PSA 10 once again posted an impressive result, closing at $29,872.
The lone PSA 9 1954 NY Journal-American Mickey Mantle fetched $12,781 while a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle graded 2.5 by PSA settled at $21,549.
Set Registry collections in the auction also included the second ranked set of 1958 Hires Root Beer on PSA’s Registry (with tabs) which sold for $17,902, the #1 ranked 1956 Topps Pins set ($12,593) and the third best 1954 Bowman Football set with a 9.59 set rating ($27,751).
Mile High’s next catalog auction is in April and consignments are being accepted. Drent will be at the TriStar show in Houston on February 12, and MHCC will be set up at the shows in Philadelphia on March 4-March 6 and Chicago on March 18-March 20. To make an appointment, inquire about consignments or sign up for a free catalog, call (303) 840-2784 or visit www.milehighcardco.com.
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