During a week that honored the debut of Jackie Robinson 74 years ago, it was only fitting that two of his cards finish 1-2 in one of the hobby’s biggest auctions.
It wasn’t a rookie card at the top of the Robert Edward Auctions Spring leaderboard, though. One of 44 1952 Topps Robinson cards rated 8 by PSA soared to a record-setting $384,000. The price more than doubled the record set less than two full months ago.
Multiple PSA 8 Robinsons sold for less than $20,000 just two years ago. Only 13 unqualified examples rank higher on the PSA Population Report as the cards are often plagued by poor centering.
It wasn’t a record price but a 1948-49 Leaf Robinson rookie card graded PSA 7 brought the second highest amount in the auction at $354,000.
The two cards were among the highlights in the REA Spring auction, one that included over 3,400 lots of vintage and modern cards and memorabilia and featured some items that hadn’t been seen on the market in years. In all, the auction generated $15,426,144 with over 97,000 bids placed by a record number of bidders.
The last time it sold at auction in 2013, the highest graded 1903 E107 Breisch-Williams Honus Wagner (SGC 4) netted $125,475–an impressive price at the time. REA offered the same card and this time it soared to $348,000.
A pair of PSA 7 Mickey Mantle cards drew six figure prices including a 1952 Topps at $264,000 and a 1951 Bowman rookie card at $174,000– a record price for the grade and about five times the going rate of just two years ago.
The memorabilia side was topped by a 1950 Roy Campanella Brooklyn Dodgers home jersey. Having survived a short trip to the low level minors 70 years ago, the flannel button down sold for $186,000.
Complete results can be found here.
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