The List: Most Valuable Baseball Cards Of All-Time

January 24, 2024 No Comments on The List: Most Valuable Baseball Cards Of All-Time
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New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth continues to smash records 75 years after his death. The Sultan of Swat’s 1914 Baltimore News rookie card fetched $7.2 million in a recent auction, making it the third-most expensive baseball card of all-time.

Only a reported 10 cards exist. The card, graded SVG 3 (very good), portrays a 19-year-old Ruth when he was a pitcher for his hometown team Baltimore Orioles. Back then, the Orioles were part of the International League.

According to ESPN, the card originally belonged to a 16-year-old paperboy in 1914 named Archibald Davis. The card passed down through generations of his family before being housed at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore since 1998. It was then sold to a private collector in 2021.

1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth Rookie SGC VG 3.
1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth Rookie SGC VG 3. (credit: Robert Edward Auctions)

“Overall, the card was pretty well preserved; the fact that it was in the hands of the museum for the last twenty-plus years helped keep it in the condition that it’s in,” Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions, who brokered the sale, told ESPN.

The 1914 Ruth rookie card first surfaced in the 1980s and sold for a mere $6,600.

“Everything about Babe Ruth is larger than life, so it’s fitting that his rookie card produced by the Baltimore News is a larger style card with a high production value for the time,” writes Robert Edward Auctions. “Issued in both red and blue variations, the red-and-white image of Ruth is framed by a red border on the offered example, which measures approximately 2-5/8 x 3-5/8 inches. The reverse has home and abroad schedules for the Baltimore team during its 1914 campaign. This card is the highest-graded example on the SGC Population Report as well as the second highest-graded example in the hobby, with only a single PSA VG-EX 4 higher.”

A year after this card was produced, Ruth made his Major League Debut with the Boston Red Sox, kicking off his Hall-of-Fame career, where he would become the one-time home-run king with 714 bombs.

“You think of Marilyn Monroe, you think of Lucille Ball, you think of John Wayne, they have become almost legendary in their status, and Ruth has done that,” Shawn Herne, executive director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, told CBS News. “He went from being a legend to being mythical, almost larger than life.”

Only two cards have sold for more than the 1914 Ruth Baltimore News rookie card. View the top-selling baseball cards below.

MOST VALUABLE BASEBALL CARDS OF ALL-TIME

1. 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle SGC 9.5: $12.6 Million

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. (credit: Heritage Auctions)

This highest-graded Mantle card sold for a staggering $12.6 million by Heritage Auctions in August 2022.

2. 1909 Sweet Corporal T-206 Honus Wagner SGC 2: $7.25 Million

One of the most famous cards ever, Goldin Auctions sold a 1909 Sweet Corporal T-206 Honus Wagner SGC 2 for $7.25 million in August 2022. It held the title of most expensive card before being shattered by the 1952 Mantle SGC 9.5 a couple weeks later.

3. 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth SGC 3: $7.2 Million

1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth Rookie SGC VG 3.
1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth Rookie SGC VG 3. (credit: Robert Edward Auctions)

4. 1909 Sweet Corporal T-206 Honus Wagner SGC 3: $6.6 Million

1909-1911 T206 White Border Honus Wagner SGC VG 3
1909-1911 T206 White Border Honus Wagner SGC VG 3. (credit: Robert Edward Auctions)

The SGC 3 version sold for $6.6 million by Robert Edward Auctions in August 2021, about a year before the SGC 2 Wagner went for nearly a million dollars more.

5. 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 9: $5.2 Million

The second time the 1952 Mantle card made the list, the PSA 9 version sold for $5.2 million in January 2021 by PWCC Marketplace.

6. 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth PSA 9: $4.2 Million

In July 2021, Memory Lane Auctions sold a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth PSA 9 card for $4.2 million. It won’t be the last time Ruth is on this list.

7. 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Superfractor Auto Mike Trout BGS 9: $3.9 Million

The first modern-era card to make the list, Mike Trout’s 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Superfractor auto BGS 9 card sold for $3.9 million during the height of the pandemic in August 2020. The sports card industry saw an incredible spike during this time.

8. 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle PSA 9: $3.192 Million

Mantle still continues to dominate the list. His 1951 Bowman rookie card PSA 9 fetched $3.192 million in December 2022.

9. 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 10: $3.1 Million

According to CardLadder, a 1953 Topps Mantle PSA 10 sold for $3.1 million in August 2021.

10. 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth PSA 7: $2.46 Million

Mile High Card Company sold this 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth PSA 7 card when “The Great Bambino” was still on the Boston Red Sox for nearly $2.5 million.

11. 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 9: $1.1 Million

Roberto Clemente’s 1955 Topps rookie card graded PSA 9 fetched $1.1 million at Goldin Auctions in March 2021.

12. 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Red Refractor Auto BGS 9.5 Mike Trout: $1.08 Million

The second Trout card to make the list, PWCC Marketplace sold his 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Red Refractor auto BGS 9.5 card for over $1 million in October 2022.

13. 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson PSA 10: $1 million

Reggie Jackson’s 1969 Topps rookie card graded PSA 10 went for $1 million in a Heritage Auction in February 2021.

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