Clean Sweep Auctions Item: 713347 -- Lot #1 1916 M101-4 Babe Ruth Rookie Card Cond: PSA 2

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Lot #1 1916 M101-4 Babe Ruth Rookie Card Cond: PSA 2

Item ID: 713347 INV ID: Watch Listing

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Item Has Ended

This listing has ended with a winning bid of Winning Bid: $274000.00
Final Sale Price: $328800.00.

Estimated Shipping:*

  • In U.S. - $4.50

*Estimated Shipping includes $5.00 minimum shipping charge. When you win more than one item, this fee is only charged once. Estimated Shipping does not include insurance, which is 2% of your total order for the first $1,000, then 1.4% non the remaining total. Estimated Shipping is discounted for multiple lots when the lots are the same size. These estimates are for shipping in the New York Tri-State area, additional charges apply based on distance and other countries.

Current Time: 8/23/2021 5:46:40 PM EST
Listed: Sunday May 16, 2021 1:06 PM EST
Ending: Thursday June 10, 2021 1:55 AM EST
Item Has Ended

 

Bid Information

Initial Bids: Your first bid on a lot must be placed by 8 PM Eastern time on the day of the auction end, unless you have bid on 10 or more different lots.

Starting Bid: $25,000
Current Bid: $274,000 by --
Next Bid: Bidding has closed.
Bid Increment: $4,000
Bids: 49 (History)
Reserve Status: This item has no Reserve.

 


Listing Details

REVISED: PLEASE NOTE IF THIS LOT GETS A FRESH WINNING BID AFTER 1:30 AM EST ON THE FINAL NIGHT OF THE AUCTION, THE MAXIMUM ADDITIONAL LATE NIGHT BUYERS PREMIUM WILL BE $2,000 TOTAL, NOT 5% OR 10% OF THE HAMMER PRICE.

The ultimate player in baseball history, Babe Ruth was not only the finest and most important player in the history of baseball but he also transcended the sport in so many ways. Without Babe Ruth and his fame, there would be no modern superstar athlete or superstar culture. Babe Ruth in the 1920s created the modern sports culture that continues to this day. We all know high quality and unique cards have been setting price records seemingly every week in 2021, including modern football cards produced in a quantity of 100 selling for over $2 million dollars. We respectfully suggest that this card should be worth more than anything produced in the past 30 years. The offered card has a great story to it, we will get to that later.

 

As far as production and recent sales, our research shows the following for the thirty-two of these that are PSA graded:

Altoona Tribune (1)

Famous & Barr (4)

Globe Clothing (3)

Herpolsheimer (4)

Indianapolis Brewing (2)

Gimbels (4)Green-Joyce (1)

Sporting News (10)

Standard Biscuit (2)

Wares (1)

Now of course there are some SGC examples (which might have been crossed over and included in these figures) and not everything has been slabbed, but given that only 32 have been slabbed by PSA since 1991, we can reasonably state that this is a rare card aside from its tremendous inherent significance. Just as a note, as of April 17, 2021, there are 316 1986-7 Fleer Michael Jordan 10s in the PSA population report (and there are clearly many, many, many more of these that will be slabbed in the future). Also please note that as of this writing, Jordan 10s can trade for over $500,000.The offered card is a fine and attractive two.

The card is well centered, the image of a so young and thin Babe Ruth looks great. The borders are clean, the corners show consistent wear in the VG range. The desirable back is perfectly bright, clean and pristine. Two creases by the bottom border of the card keep this at a 2, they just barely crack the paper. In short, this is a fine looking and extremely attractive card for the grade.

Fresh to the hobby, this was collected back in the 1980s by a wonderful old time collector. This was a person who could tell you the difference between an E120, W573 or E121 in his sleep. A supremely knowledge collector who loved vintage cards, we have sold most of his collection over the years. He told me years ago that one day that I would get a call about his Babe Ruth Rookie Card when he died; sadly that day came this year. This card has an amazing story to it. Back in the 1980s, 1975 Topps Mini baseball card sets were among the hottest items in the hobby. In perhaps the most brilliant trade in the history of our hobby, our consignor swapped his 1975 Topps set for this Babe Ruth Rookie Card! Who wants to add what one can reasonably argue is the ultimate baseball card to their collection or investment portfolio?

 

Please note bidders must be pre-approved by us to bid on this lot.

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