Lucky 7 Find T206 Ty Cobb card sells for $228,000

One of the seven rare T206 Ty Cobb Tobacco cards found in a crumpled paper bag inside an old house early last year sold for $228,000 to pace Memory Lane Inc.’s Summer Auction.

The card from the “Lucky 7 Find” that generated international headlines was graded PSA 2.5. It was the second time the card had sold since its discovery by family members cleaning out a home in the southeast that had been occupied by a deceased relative.

In all, Memory Lane’s auction of over 700 lots of rare, high-end sports cards and memorabilia generated more $2.9 million including buyer’s premiums.

An SGC 96 (mint) 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson sold for $109,781, obliterating the previous public auction record of $13,145 for the grade which had been achieved in 2014. Another key, mint card in the ’49 Bowman set was also among the auction’s top sellers with a PSA 9 Satchel Paige rookie soaring to $37,746.

A PSA 9 example of the iconic 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card opened at $50,000 and closed at $180,000.

The auction included some early Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays cards including a PSA 7 copy of the 1952 Topps Mantle ($120,000), a PSA 9 1952 Bowman Mays ($46,176) and a PSA 8 1953 Topps Mays ($26,660). A 1962 Topps Mantle rated 9 by PSA sold for $35,248, beating the established high mark by more than $15,000, while a 1958 Topps Mantle, also graded 9, sold for $23,660 and a PSA 9 1958 Topps #418 ‘World Series Foes’ picturing Mantle and Hank Aaron was nailed down for $16,180.

A pair of legendary names from the 1915 Cracker Jack set drew a crowd of pre-War collectors. A PSA 8 Joe Jackson netted $73,200 while one of the five PSA 9 Walter Johnson cards reached $50,400.

Other rookie cards sold included a 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rated PSA 10 ($22,776) and a PSA 10 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson ($35,376).

Two rare Ty Cobb postcards sold for more than $60,000 combined.

Memorabilia included autographed baseballs from Christy Mathewson ($36,000) and Jimmie Foxx ($20,660), A Type 1 photo of Mantle in 1951 sold for $16,334 while a George Grantham Bain Type 1 image of Mathewson went for $15,734. An autographed copy of Joe DiMaggio’s 1938 Heads Up rookie card scored a final price of $15,712.