Complete and near complete 1950s baseball card sets, single cards from all eras and a check signed by Honus Wagner the year after his playing career ended are among more than 3,600 lots in Robert Edward Auctions’ May Encore event.
The auction, which opened Thursday, runs the entire length of sports collectibles history, ranging from 19th century baseball Hall of Famers to signed football and basketball Hall of Fame rookie cards from the 1950s and 1960s along with modern prospects.
Leading off the 10-day auction is a 1909-1911 T206 White Border Ty Cobb Bat Off Shoulder with an extremely rare Uzit back and a Ty Cobb rookie from the 1907 Wolverine News Postcard series.
Another top card from the tobacco era is a 1910 E98 Anonymous “Set of 30” Wagner PSA 8.
Other vintage baseball highlights include:
- Lot 9 – 1957 Topps Complete Set (407): #24 PSA Set Registry (8.00 GPA)
- Lot 10 – 1958 Topps Near-Complete Set (493/494): #13 PSA Set Registry (8.00 GPA)
- Lot 11 – 1959 Topps Complete Set (572): #29 PSA Set Registry (8.01 GPA)
- Lot 33 – Circa 1947 Bond Bread Jackie Robinson Portrait SGC VG 3
- Lots 13-16 – 1889 N172 Old Judge King Kelly, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe, and Clark Griffith Rookie – all graded VG 3
- Lot 17 – 1909-1911 T206 White Border Ty Cobb Portrait Red Background PSA VG-EX 4 – Sweet Caporal 350/30 Overprint
- Lot 18 – 1909-1911 T206 White Border Walter Johnson Portrait PSA EX 5 – Sovereign 350 Back
- Lot 19 – 1909-1911 T206 White Border Cy Young Portrait PSA EX 5 – Piedmont 150
- Lot 24 – 1918 Honus Wagner Signed Check – PSA/DNA
- Lot 38 – 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips Mickey Mantle PSA NM 7
- Lot 53 – 1967 Topps #581 Tom Seaver Rookie PSA NM-MT 8
1950s Bowman and Topps PSA-Graded Set Breaks
The event will include a complete 324-card set break of the iconic 1951 Bowman set, including the rookie cards of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, both in PSA 5, and Whitey Ford in a PSA 8. The majority of the set grades PSA 7 or 8.
Complete sets from 1954 and 1955 are also being broken and sold card by card. Most are graded PSA 7 and 8, with a few better. The key rookie cards of Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, and Tommy Lasorda from 1954 and Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, and Harmon Killebrew from 1955 all grade PSA 8.
Goudey GOATS, Memorabilia
Arguably the six most iconic cards from the classic 1933 Goudey series are the quartet of Babe Ruth cards and the low and high number Lou Gehrig cards are all part of the sale, including the #53 yellow background Ruth in a PSA VG-EX 4.
Memorabilia items include a ticket stub from the 1957 NFL Championship Game between the Detroit Lions (their last appearance in an NFL title game) and the Cleveland Browns and a 1920 Real Photo Postcard of the Harvard team that played in the Rose Bowl.
“We’re very excited about the strength of this auction on the heels of our blockbuster spring sale,” says REA President Brian Dwyer, referring to the larger $15.4 million auction that ended last month.. “There is tremendous quality within this auction, which is a testament to the collectors who have gathered these iconic cards and built these high-end sets.”
As with all of REA’s monthly Encore Auctions, every item has a starting bid of $10.
The auction runs through May 19 on REA’s website.
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