Auction News – April

A typed letter signed by Charles "Kid" Nichols to former NL president Warren Giles in 1952 sold for $2,239 (including buyer's premium) to top the Mike Gutierrez Auctions online sale that ended March 30 at www.mgauction.net.
A Jesse Burkett cut signature sold for $1,838, while a Hank Greenberg and Charles Gehringer dual-signed ball finished at $1,808. A Cy Young signed data sheet reached $1,346; a Jimmie Foxx signed 1945 cancelled government postcard sold for $1,190, a vintage Yankee Stadium seat fetched $1,122 and a Ted Williams signed UDA bat made $1,020. Three Michael Jordan "Best Wishes" signed basketballs sold for $1,163 apiece.
This was a supplementary auction for MGA consisting of over 1,000 lots, primarily mid-range in value. The next major event for MGA is being assembled now and is expected to conclude on June 1.

A 1921-31 Babe Ruth game-used bat graded A4 led the way for Vintage Authentics' first internet-only auction, which ended ended May 30 at vintageauthentics.at.truition.com. The bat sold for $17.315.
Other leading items included: Derrick Gainer Super Bowl XXVII player presented Lombardi Trophy ($8,812); a Walter Payton mid-1980s game-used and autographed jersey ($4,195); a Ruth and Lou Gehrig 1972 inscription autographed baseball ($5,491); Jerome Bettis 1998 game-used and autographed jersey ($2,706); Ted Williams 1950-60 game-used bat graded A6 ($3,050); Barry Sanders game-used jersey ($3,658); a Joe Jackson barnstorming era game-used bat graded A4 ($4,467); and a pair of LeBron James game-used rookie jersey with one home jersey ($3,371) and a road jersey ($2,581).
The auction consisted of 420 lots. Vintage Authentics' next major auction will take place July 13 (starts on May 5), with a May 5 consignment deadline. The next internet auction will follow on Aug. 10 (starts July 24).

Heritage Auction Galleries will have eight circa-1888 Allen & Ginter N26 The World's Beauties First Series advertising posters in its upcoming Signature auction, which will be held May 6 (www.heritageauctions.com). The posters will be offered as individual lots and are estimated to bring $1,500 to $2,500 each.
"While none are technically sports-related, the status of Allen & Ginter and Duke's Cigarettes as being among the earliest issuers of baseball cards makes this collection particularly relevant to our sports clientele," said Chris Ivy, director of sports collectibles at Heritage. According to Ivy, each poster pictures a different 50-card set issued by the tobacco purveyors and were discovered by a rare book dealer in an attic in Kalmar, on the Baltic coast of Sweden.

He was a clean-living role model who sang in his local glee club, wrote children's books, and was a member of a literary society. One of the first players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb, he was popularly known as "Big Six" and "Matty," and was the leading pitcher of the early 20th century, with a career-winning percentage of .655, the sixth-best of all time.

"On Independence Day of 1914, the year in which this incredible photo was signed, the great Christy Mathewson shut out the Phillies in the bottom half of a Polo Grounds doubleheader to notch his 350th career victory," said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Collectibles for Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas. "With Babe Ruth nothing more than a promising prospect at the close of the year, and Ty Cobb a brilliant but unloveable star, it was Mr. Mathewson that held the collective hearts of baseball fans nationwide at the time he inked this remarkable photograph to a fraternity brother. It ended up being Matty's final winning season, a brilliant twenty-four and thirteen campaign that should have earned the Giants a fifth pennant under his reign if not for the improbable Miracle Braves."

"Those with any knowledge of the baseball autograph market need no explanation of the rarity and desirability of this piece," Ivy said. "Mathewson's tremendous fame and Hall of Fame relevance, paired with his early death in 1925 from tuberculosis brought on by World War I chemical warfare lung damage, directs supply and demand in extreme opposite directions. Collectors scramble for any slip of paper blessed by Matty's hand, well aware that the final few remaining examples are finding permanent homes and one day these opportunities will be gone. This is no mere slip of paper however. It's not even your typical Mathewson signed photo, if there were such a thing."

"This is one of the finest Mathewson signed artifacts ever to be offered for public sale," Ivy continued, "a thrilling oversized studio portrait of Christy in uniform with a conservative 8/10 fountain pen inscription to a Bucknell fraternity brother. The photo measures 10.5x13.75" in size and shows only light age toning, with a complete absence of creasing, tearing or foxing so typically seen with photographs of this vintage. The inscription reads, 'Best regards to Brother Gus From Christy Mathewson, Dec. 1914.' This amazing specimen, never before been seen in the hobby, should inspire some spirited bidding when it hits the auction block."

The 1914 Christy Mathewson Signed Large Photograph bears a pre-auction estimate of $20,000 - $30,000,

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HeritageAuctions.com <http://www.heritageauctions.com/> .

Prospective consignors and sellers of vintage sports memorabilia are invited to visit www.HeritageAuctions.com <http://www.heritageauctions.com/> and click on the "Sell Now" tab. Or simply email Chris Ivy at CIvy@HeritageAuctions.com <mailto:CIvy@HeritageAuctions.com> .

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Nicole Jewell at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272, or visit www.HeritageAuctions.com <http://www.heritageauctions.com/> to order by email.

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Cathy@HeritageAuctions.com

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