One of Babe Ruth’s rarest vintage cards is about to hit the auction block–and it’s one of the best among the few that exist some 86 years after they were issued.
Heritage Auctions will offer a 1933 Uncle Jack’s Candy Ruth graded VG/EX by SGC in its upcoming Spring Trading Card Catalog Auction. It’s the third highest graded of only six on SGC’s population report and of the eight examined by PSA, none have graded better than a 2.5
The ultra-rare 30-card Uncle Jack’s set was distributed only in the candy company’s New England home territory. In all, just over 200 cards from the set have ever been submitted for grading, making it one of the scarcest sets of the era. In addition to Ruth, the set includes Jimmie Foxx, Frankie Frisch, Rogers Hornsby, Lefty Grove and Tony Lazzeri.
The cards feature a monochromatic photographic image on the front. Ruth’s name sits in the lower right corner and below that his exalted title, “King of Swat.”
Heritage estimates the card will sell for at least $10,000 but that could be a very conservative figure. An SGC 6.5 sold for $48,000 earlier this year. The highest PSA-graded Ruth (2.5) sold for $59,097 in 2017.
The Uncle Jack’s card is one of several Ruth cards in the auction, which is expected to open March 27 and will close over two days, April 18-19.