Heritage Auctions is regarded as one of the premier auction houses for sports memorabilia, but they are best known within the hobby of baseball card collecting. Heritage Auctions has established itself as the top destination for collectors and investors looking to buy or sell the rarest and most valuable baseball cards in existence. This includes cards that have sold for over $1 million each like the legendary 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner, as well as one-of-a-kind rookie cards of all-time greats from Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle to Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Trout.
The history of Heritage Auctions involvement with baseball cards dates back to the late 1970s. At the time, the baseball card market was just gaining momentum as adults who collected cards as children started pursuing complete sets and high grade vintage issues. Heritage Auctions got their start auctioning off complete sets through print catalogs along with other collectibles like coins, stamps and artwork. As the demand for rare vintage cards escalated, Heritage began securing some of the most desirable individual cards to cross the auction block for the first time.
In the 1990s, the sports memorabilia market exploded in value thanks to televised auctions and a prominent national infomercial campaign led by Heritage Auctions. This helped expose the hobby to many new collectors and brought unprecedented prices for legendary cards. A Babe Ruth rookie from 1909-1911 Tobacco Brands set the still standing record at $641,500 in 1992. Other iconic early 20th century tobacco era cards like Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams also established new value benchmarks. By the late 90s, Heritage Auctions had cemented itself as the premier destination to buy or sell seven and eight figure cards.
As internet use grew widespread in the 2000s, Heritage Auctions embraced online bidding platforms to reach a global collector base. The company now runs both traditional “run of site” auctions as well as dedicated sports and card auction events throughout the year. Over 20 million online bids are placed annually on Heritage Auctions websites, with archived auction catalogs providing a detailed price history of cards and collectibles going back decades. Heritage’s streamlined digital format opened the possibility ofConsignment Services auctioning cards without requiring physical catalog or presentation space limitations.
Their extensive experience handling consignments has given Heritage Auctions unmatched expertise in cataloguing, grading and auctioning rarity within virtually every category of sports collectibles from pre-war tobacco brands to iconic rookie cards of modern superstars like Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Trout. Grading standards have evolved significantly over the past 4 decades, but the decades of auction price records maintained by Heritage provide collectors with the most comprehensive market resource available. With over 4500 lots auctioned monthly across all collecting categories valued at tens of millions of dollars, Heritage’s scale and market depth is unmatched globally.
When a transcendent Card hits the Heritage Auctions Block, it is typically an event that generates headlines and record prices. Their auction of a near mint Mike Trout 2009 Bowman Chrome Superfractor parallel in August 2018 pulled a world record $3.84 million, more than double the previous public sale high for any Trout card. In 2007, a rare Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie in near mint condition realized $101,000. They have a virtual monopoly on cards valued over 7 figures. Some of the most valuable auction sales Heritage has facilitated for Baseball Cards include:
1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner – $3.12 million (2016)
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Rookie PSA NM-MT 8 – $2.88 million (2021)
1909-1911 T206 Ty Cobb – $2.340 million (2007)
1909-1911 T206 Cy Young – $1.32 million (2007)
1914 Cracker Jack Tyler Harvey $1.14 million (2015)
2009 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Mike Trout – $3.84 million (2018)
2004 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractors Justin Verlander PSA 10 – $3.81 million
In summary, Heritage Auctions has successfully grown into the preeminent auction destination for the rarest baseball cards and high value sports collectibles. Their long track record of auctioning seven and eight figure cards, detailed online catalogs maintaining decades of price data, and expert authentication, grading and consignment services are unrivaled in the industry. For serious collectors and investors, Heritage Auctions remains the go-to source to establish fair market value for lifetime pursuit cards and potentially set new benchmarks when truly iconic rarities surface and cross their auction block.
