The Sultan of Swat fell a bit brief this time.
A uncommon card from the All-Star’s rookie yr with the Baltimore Orioles sold for $7.2 million at public sale Monday, making it the third costliest sports activities card to ever promote at public sale. Whereas it was the most costly Ruth merchandise to ever be bought, the full was a bit decrease than promoters had been hoping for.
When it was introduced final month, there was hypothesis that the 1914 Baltimore Information card, which incorporates a 19-year-old Ruth in his rookie season, could fetch more than $10 million—and presumably may prime the document $12.6 million a fan paid for a 1952 mint situation Mickey Mantle card final yr.
It didn’t. And it fell just a few {dollars} shy of the $7.25 million a fan paid final August for a Honus Wagner card.
The Ruth card had been owned by the identical household for over 100 years and has been on show on the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum since 1998. There are solely 10 identified variations of this card in existence.
“This is a card that every collector dreams of owning, and with so few examples in existence, there is almost no desire to sell these cards by the few privileged enough to own them,” stated the president of sports activities memorabilia public sale home REA in a statement when the cardboard went on sale. “It is very likely to be the only example we’ll see available for purchase for years to come.”
That is the primary time a Ruth rookie card has been up on the market in over a decade. And one other isn’t prone to go on the block for a few years. There’s just one identified different copy of this card with the identical grade from SGC (Sportscard Warranty Company). And just one identified copy that’s graded larger.
