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Throughout what has been a trying and difficult period of the broader card and memorabilia market, vintage prices have managed to remain relatively stable while in some cases, have delivered record-breaking results. This weekend, Goldin closes their inaugural September Vintage Card and Memorabilia Elite Auction which features more than 530 lots of sports history. While the auction already carries the weight of representing some of the most legendary names in baseball, it also offers another litmus test for the strength of a market that has managed to weather the storm thus far.
In May 2021, Heritage sold a PSA 1.5 graded Honus Wagner card for $2.28 million to set the record for any 1.5 graded T-206 Honus. The buyer is now set to make a quick profit as the exact card will sell this weekend at Goldin and has reached $3.48 million through 25 bids. In August, Goldin set a short-lived sports card record when they announced the private sale of a PSA 2 graded T-206 Honus for $7.25 million. The record books were rewritten just a few weeks later when Heritage sold their SGC 9.5 Mickey Mantle for $12.6 million. If you are sensing a theme here though, after madness in 2020-21 pushed names like Mahomes and Luka to the top of the sports card world, the peak is once again controlled by baseball's historic legends. One of those iconic cards returns to auction this weekend and while a multi-million dollar price tag has already been secured, there is a chance, albeit slim, that it could become the most expensive Honus card ever sold if it can double its current price.
One of the rarest pieces of Babe Ruth memorabilia to ever hit the market, Goldin will sell an artifact from the twilight of one of baseball's best careers. In 1934, Ruth officially retired from the New York Yankees and entered an era of his life that is often forgotten. In 1938, after a brief stint in Boston playing for the Braves, Ruth found himself back in New York, this time in the Borough of Brooklyn, with the Dodgers. Offered by Goldin is a complete uniform once worn by Ruth during his tenure as a coach. While the overwhelming majority of Ruth memorabilia that circulates around public markets comes from his days as a Yankee, this is one of the few pieces of memorabilia that showcases the Great Bambino wearing the threads of a different New York team.
There are more than 1,000 1966 Topps Bobby Orr rookie cards that have been graded by PSA but less than 120 have been graded from the USA Test production. Unlike the Topps print runs which carried a French translation of player bios near the bottom of the card, the USA Test cards only featured English and were only distributed throughout the states. Outside of the language difference, the two sets are nearly identical with the only other noticeable difference being the lighter colored wood grain border that encompasses the card. The scarcity of the USA Test cards is already showing its influence as this PSA 8.5 graded example has already reached six-figures and could become the most expensive like-graded Bobby Orr card ever sold at auction. With 18 bids heading into the final days, the card sits at $104,400 and will need to surpass the $135,000 price realized by a different 8.5 copy at Goldin earlier this year.
Today, the prices of Formula One cards are rising at a pace that is only matched by the viewership ratings of the world's new favorite racing sport. Before the days of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel, there was Ayrton Senna. Arguably the greatest non-European driver in Formula One history, Senna secured three F1 championships in four years while tallying 41 total professional wins. In a tragic accident, Senna died in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, cutting short a storied career that would influence generations of drivers. Goldin is set to sell the highest graded example from Senna's Panini rookie card. The PSA 7 graded card is has a population of one with none higher and has reached $46,800 through 13 bids.
If you were building a Mount Rushmore of sports card sets, the 1909-11 T-206 production would have to fit within the monument somewhere. Loaded with Hall of Famers and brimming with history, there were 525 total cards included in the white border T-206 insert lineup with names like Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Walter Johnson. There is an array of 518 of those 525 cards, representing 98.7% of the complete set, that is scheduled to sell this weekend at Goldin and should push into six-figures by auction close. The lot includes 53 cards that are graded by PSA including the Piedmont 350 Red Ty Cobb and the Sweet Caporal 'Bat on Shoulder' Cobb. With three days remaining the set has garnered 22 bids with a current price of $80,400.
On July 13, 1971, Reggie Jackson sent a pitch from Doc Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates into the stratosphere during the '71 All Star Game at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. While the official distance of the blast was hindered due to hitting a transformer on the roof of the stadium, today's technology has recorded the ball speed at 124 MPH and estimates the distance to be 539 feet. Those numbers make it the third longest home run ever hit in baseball history and the longest home run ever hit in an All Star Game. The sleeveless jersey worn by Jackson when he crushed that monstrous homer is now for sale at Goldin auction and has a high bid of $66,000. The jersey is supported by a photomatch curtesy of Resolution Photomatching and is even signed/inscribed by Jackson which has been authenticated by JSA.
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