A 1916 M101-4 Babe Ruth rookie card in near mint condition sold for $600,000 late Sunday night, topping all items as Robert Edward Auctions closed out its Fall Auction. The PSA 7 blank back version is one of the finest known examples in 
the hobby and represented the latest six-figure sale for a card that’s shown explosive growth in recent years. The consignor had purchased the card for $81,000 several years earlier. In 2015, the company sold a PSA 6 for $204,000.
A 1916 M101-5 Ruth graded PSA 4 is on its way to a new owner as well, selling for $132,000 including the 20% buyer’s premium added to all winning bids in the auction.
In all, 11 lots eclipsed the six-figure mark when the cyber hammer fell on the multi-million dollar catalog sale, which closed as World Series Game 5 was winding down. A total of 29,558 bids were placed in the auction, and proceeds for the 2,781 items sold tallied just over $10 million. REA says there were 932 different buyers who won at least one lot.
A mint condition 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card sold for $204,000—the ninth sale of a PSA 9 to go for over $100,000 at public auction in the last two years.
Mickey Mantle cards and memorabilia also remain among the hobby’s most coveted items from investors and collectors. A PSA 7 (near mint) 1952 Topps Mantle netted $168,000 while a PSA 8 example of Mantle’s 1951 Bowman rookie card hit $132,000. A game-worn, autographed 1958 Yankees road jersey donned by Mantle soared to $120,000.
A recently discovered complete 1958 Topps football wax box with the original empty case we told you about earlier this month turned out to be the fourth highest selling item in the auction when it closed at $156,000.
A new-to-the-hobby collection of fifty Turkey Reds, each graded by SGC, combined to realize more than $290,000, led by a Near Mint example of Christy Mathewson that soared to $57,000.
Among other items sold were:
- 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #149 PSA 8 $120,000
- 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53 PSA 8 $114,000
- 1931 Babe Ruth signed game model bat $114,000
- 1949 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie card (SGC 96) $108,000
- 1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy #147 Babe Ruth $90,000
- 1962-63 era Jim Brown game-used Cleveland Browns jersey $78,000
- 1967 Super Bowl I Full Ticket (Gold) PSA NM-MT 8 – Highest Graded $54,000
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