Babe Ruth always has a prominent role in sports memorabilia auctions and this year’s fall REA auction is no exception.
The auction is in its final week of bidding and, as it stands right now, the Hall of Fame slugger currently occupies five of the top ten spots. You can expect that to probably continue through this weekend as bidding heats up.
Now, he isn’t No. 1. That spot is currently occupied by a Ty Cobb-Backed tobacco card and a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 6 card. Both have current bids of $90,000. However, Ruth isn’t far behind those items and his name comes up quite a bit when browsing the auction’s top ten list of the highest items.
So far, the most expensive Ruth item in the lot is a rare 1917 Boston Store card. Nearly old enough to be considered a rookie issue, this early card of the Hall of Famer is graded an SGC 40 and currently has a high bid of $85,000.
Just behind that one is an autographed Ruth from the popular 1933 Goudey set that has been graded a PSA/DNA 7. Bidding for that card has already reached $45,000. Currently, this card is just outside of the top five, checking in as the sixth-most expensive item in the auction.
Into memorabilia? Well, a trio of Ruth items are also in the top ten. Tied (in terms of price) with that autographed Goudey Ruth card are a pair of autographed baseballs. One includes a pristine looking sweet spot signature graded a nearly flawless PSA/DNA 9 autograph. Then there is a dual-signed baseball featuring the signatures of Yankee greats Ruth and teammate Lou Gehrig. Ruth’s signature occupies the sweet spot on that ball as well while an equally clean Gehrig signature is found on the side. That item, like the single-signed ball, is also at $45,000.
Rounding out the top ten is a Babe Ruth game-used bat, that is available to collectors as well. Like the baseballs, this piece of history is in excellent shape and has been graded a PSA/DNA (game-used) 7.5. This gamer, estimated to be from 1918-22, is doing quite well with a current bid of $40,000. Add it all up and that gives Ruth five of the top ten items in the auction.
All Ruth items aren’t that valuable, obviously. But this is a very high quality group of early Ruth collectibles. You can expect the prices to continue surging on these as the auction closes this weekend.
The aforementioned Cobb and Gehrig are prominent in the auction, as well. That pair has many cards and collectibles among the auction’s current Top 50 list. For now, though, it’s the Babe Ruth items that are drawing the most attention near the very top.
Bidding in the auction ends this Sunday, October 28.
Meanwhile, Goldin Auctions is selling one of the top examples of Babe Ruth’s rookie card. The 1916 M101-5 blank back rated 5.5 by SGC is one of just two at that level with none higher. The current bid stands at $170,000 as the auction heads into its final days. They also have a bat Ruth signed for Bobby Doerr just before he died in 1948.
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