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Rookie cards of Bill Russell, NBA legends highlight PWCC’s first vintage auction
With the NBA playoffs in full swing, the first Vintage Premier Auction at PWCC Marketplace features high-grade rookie cards of some of the league’s legendary stars.
The auction, which began on April 27 and runs through May 11, features 86 elite vintage cards across all sports.
The NBA collection features a 1957 Topps Bill Russell SP ROOKIE #77, graded PSA 8.5. Russell’s rookie card is not only the Celtic Hall of Famer's best card, but one of the most coveted basketball cards in existence. The 8.5-graded card is one of only two in existence, with only three copies graded higher. The card already has a current bid of $240,000.
Also featured is a 1980 Topps Basketball Larry Bird and Magic Johnson rookie card graded SGC 10. The three-panel card, which also features NBA legend Julius Erving, earned a Gem Mint 10 grade, one of only eight copies to earn the perfect grade.
Other high-end NBA cards include: a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card, graded PSA 10; a 1969 Topps Lew Alcindor rookie card #25, graded PSA 9; and a 1972 Topps Walt Frazier #60 card, one of only two graded PSA 10.
Among the other top vintage items in the auction include:
• A 1924 Babe Ruth single-signed baseball (PSA/DNA & Beckett LOA's) dated to an Oct. 17, 1924 exhibition game in Spokane, Wash., where Ruth hit a home run in the game’s last at-bat.
• A 1941 charity golf match ticket signed by both Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb (PSA/DNA Authentic Auto). Cobb won the match in the 1941 Commonwealth Country Club charity golf event. A score keeper had both baseball legends sign the rare ticket, one of the few pieces of memorabilia with both player’s autograph.
• 1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig #37 card (PSA 8 NM-MT). Only four copies have earned a higher grade.
• 1960 Hemmets Journal Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali #23 rookie card (PSA 9), Ali’s first mainstream rookie card. Hand cut from journal photos from the Rome Olympics, only one copy has been graded higher.
