Four autographed Babe Ruth cards were discovered in an old scrapbook in 2019, found among the pages that included hundreds of newspaper clippings and photos assembled in the 1930s.
One of those cards, a 1933 Goudey No. 181 with a PSA 4.5 condition grade and a PSA/DNA 8 autograph grade — the highest-graded condition of any Goudey card signed by Ruth known to exist — is set to sell at Goldin Auctions next month, carrying a current bid of $793,000, including buyer’s premium.
The find was originally sold off by Mile High Card Company in 2019. At the time, the auction house’s founder, Brian Drent, told PSA, "I have handled and seen the best of the best that the hobby has to offer since establishing my company in 1996. ... This material is not only in the upper echelon of what has come into the marketplace, it has also provided me with a personal story I'll never forget."
According to Drent, he never even met with the original family of the man who put the scrapbook together. The man's son was, to his knowledge, still alive and in his late 80s at the time of the discovery six years ago, and the family negotiated the terms of sale through an intermediary.
“They wanted to remain anonymous, and they wanted it to be a cash transaction. So, I flew in to Philadelphia with a suitcase filled with cash, rented a car and drove an hour-and-a-half to this little town in Pennsylvania where I was to meet the guy who was representing the family,” Drent recalled to PSA.
“When I finally got to the house and actually saw the scrapbook, the cards and other signed material, I was just blown away.”
In the auction listing, Goldin Auctions states that not only is this card the highest-graded Goudey-signed Ruth card, but is actually the highest-graded signed Ruth card of any from his playing days issues.
Another Goudey example with slightly lower condition grade (PSA 4) and an equivalent autograph grade recently sold for $1.2 million in a private transaction, according to the auction house.
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Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.