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Rare 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card sells for $1.6 million at Fanatics
A rare 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card sold for $1.6 million at Fanatics Collect.
The card, the first big high-end card to hit the auction market from Fanatics, is the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #149, or the “Red Ruth.” Graded PSA 8.5, with none graded higher and only two others carrying the same grade, it has a higher grade than the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card (PSA 8) currently displayed in the Smithsonian Museum.
The iconic card attracted 59 bids and sold for $1,620,000. Fanatics estimated it would sell from $1.5 to $3 million. The auction closed on Nov. 21.
Fanatics officials called it a “once in a generation” card and a “piece of artwork.”
The anonymous consigner of the card was only the second owner. It was bought from a family whose grandfather owned it for decades, along with a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53 (“Yellow Ruth”). A Yankees fan, the consigner bought the card privately and had it graded by PSA.
