It’s been 73 years since Babe Ruth died, but he’s still one of the most recognizable sports stars in the world. But despite his ubiquity, there aren’t a lot of autographs from the Great Bambino laying around. So if you want to own one, you better be ready to hand out cash like he hammered homers.
A rare autograph that’s been hidden away in someone’s private collection for years recently went on sale, TMZ reported. It can be yours for $54,000.
The signed photo is more than 100 years old and features Babe Ruth in his Red Sox uniform. The legendary baseball player wrote “To Sal, Sincerely Babe Ruth” in the bottom left corner.
That price is a steal, TMZ pointed out, when you consider that a letter Ruth sent his mistress sold for $210,000 in April.
Ruth played for Boston from 1914 until he was famously traded away to the Yankees in 1920. The Red Sox owner sold Ruth to New York for the record-breaking sum of $100,000, which kicked off the Curse of the Bambino. The curse is supposedly why the Sox didn’t win a championship for 86 years.
Autographed LeBron James Card Sells for Insanely High Price
Switching from the Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, to King James.
A LeBron James autographed rookie card sold for $5.2 million earlier this year, USA Today said. It’s the most someone has ever paid for a basketball card, and it tied a record for the most expensive sports collectible card ever sold at the time. A 1952 Mickey Mantle card sold at auction for that same price in January. That one went to actor and entrepreneur Rob Gough.
It’s unclear who purchased the Lebron James card. PWCC helped facilitate that sale.
Upper Deck only produced 23 of the signed James rookie cards. The 2003-2004 Upper Deck Exquisite Basketball card scored a nearly perfect grade.
“This was actually in the works for a while,” PWCC executive Jesse Craig told The Action Network after the sale. “The demand for rare cards, especially basketball right now, is just like the demand for fine art.”
Though, King James and The Mick didn’t stay on top for long. A Honus Wagner baseball card sold at auction in August for $6.6 million. The card of the Pittsburgh Pirates great is considered the holy grail of sports collectibles.
Dave Jamieson, who literally wrote the book on the subject, told ESPN that the Wagner T206 is by far the most sought-after card in the world.
“If you ask a bunch of modern art curators, ‘What’s the greatest work of modern art?’ they all have different opinions,” Jamieson said. “There’s not much discussion when it comes to baseball cards: It’s the T206 Wagner.”
