Anyone who saw him play, would agree that “Shoeless Joe” Jackson was truly one-of-a-kind. And now, 90-years after he was forced out of the game, another one-of-a-kind Jackson has been discovered.
Being offered at auction by Goldin Auctions is one of the rarest baseball cards in the world – the only confirmed M101-6 (Felix Mendehlson) card of “Shoeless Joe.” One fortunate collector will add this card to his collection when it comes up for bid in the 2013 Goldin Auctions October Legends auction from October 7-November .
Last month, Sports Collectors Daily’s Chris Levy talked with collectors who’ve been chasing the set and wondering if they’d have the opportunity to see what was once only a rumor. Now, that card, in rough shape but intact and beyond rare, has indeed emerged.
The M101-6 cards, which were issued by Chicago-based sports photographer Felix Mendehlson and offered through The Sporting News from 1917-19, presented some of the era’s most stunning photographic imagery to ever grace a baseball card. The Jackson card features him in a swinging pose wielding his signature “Black Betsy” bat.
“I have sold thousands of unique and rare collectibles over the past three decades, including the T206 Jumbo Honus Wagner earlier this year for $2.1 million, but there is something especially exciting about the first sale of a lost treasure from an historic player like Jackson,” admits Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions. ‘Everyone suspected that there was an M101-6 Jackson card, but nobody had ever seen one until now. We are honored to make this card available to collectors.”
In addition to the M101-6 Jackson card, Goldin Auctions is also offering separate lots featuring the hard-to-find George Sisler and Rogers Hornsby cards from the set.
All three cards, graded as an SGC 1.5, were recently uncovered in the Midwest, according to Goldin.