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Rare Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner cards, basketball legends highlight new Goldin vintage auction
Goldin Co. recently made history when it sold a 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain rookie card for $1.7 million, a record for vintage basketball cards.
Goldin has more coveted cards up for bid in its inaugural Vintage Quarterly Auction, which showcases rare vintage cards from across the sports world.
This first auction in the series, which opened on Oct. 1 with extended bidding beginning on Oct. 26, is headlined by iconic cards featuring the legends of baseball, basketball, soccer and football, and also features a selection of pre-1980 baseball bats, postcards, vinyl records and more.
Baseball card highlights include:
• 1897–99 Reccius Cigars Honus Wagner rookie card. Wagner's only trading card portraying him in a Louisville Colonels Uniform has a current bid of $725,000. Issued between 1897–1900 and one of only three known to exist, the card could be considered Wagner’s true rookie card.
• 1903 W600 Sporting Life Cabinet Type 2 Mount Christy Mathewson Street Clothes Rookie. Mathewson’s first baseball card, which has a current bid of $260,000, was first issued by the Sporting Life newspaper on Jan. 31, 1903.
• 1933 Sport Kings Signed #2 Babe Ruth with a PSA 9 MINT Autograph. The only known Sport Kings example signed by Ruth has a current bid of $190,000. The 1933 Sport Kings Ruth card has always been one of his most underrated cards, with this #1/1 featuring a bold Ruth signature.
• Babe Ruth single-signed Amateur League Baseball (PSA/DNA NM-MT 8). With a current bid of $33,000, the ball features a bold “Babe Ruth” fountain pen signature on the sweet spot.
The auction also features some rare vintage NBA cards, including:
• 1961-62 Fleer #3 Elgin Baylor signed rookie card (PSA NM-MT 8, PSA/DNA GEM MT 10). The only signed PSA 8 example known to exist has a current bid of $24,000.
• 1969-70 Topps Basketball #25 Lew Alcindor signed rookie card (PSA NM-MT 8; PSA/DNA MINT 9). The signed PSA example has a current bid of $18,000.
• 1957-58 Topps #77 Bill Russell rookie card (PSA NM 7). Current Bid: $22,000.
Goldin’s October Legends Elite Auction is also still live, with extended bidding starting Nov. 2. The auction features Shohei Ohtani’s 51st Home Run Ball and the historic 1989 Pete Rose Signed Baseball Banishment Agreement.
