The sports memorabilia market is a multi-billion dollar industry and one of the most expensive collectibles are vintage trading cards from the early 20th century, especially ones depicting legendary baseball and football players. As the popularity of card collecting has grown exponentially over the decades, certain rare and historic cards have shattered auction records by selling for millions of dollars.
One of the most expensive trading cards ever sold is the 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner card, which is widely considered the rarest and most coveted baseball card in existence. Produced by the American Tobacco Company between 1909-1911, each pack was supposed to include one Wagner card. However, Wagner reportedly asked the company to withdraw his card from production because he did not want to promote tobacco to children. As a result, it is estimated fewer than 60 authentic Wagner cards still exist today in mint condition. In recent years, several Wagner cards have sold at auction for over $1 million each, with one in near-perfect condition selling in August 2021 for an astounding $6.6 million through PWCC Marketplace, making it the highest price ever paid for a baseball card.
Another extremely rare and valuable early 20th century baseball card is the Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie card. Considered the finest Mantle rookie to ever appear on the market, one in pristine near-mint condition sold for $5.2 million in January 2022 through Heritage Auctions, setting a new record. Mantle, of course, had a legendary career with the New York Yankees and is regarded as one of the greatest switch hitters and all-around players in baseball history. His rookie card is exponentially more expensive than modern rookie cards due to the far smaller print runs and surviving population of cards from the 1950s.
In the football card realm, the most prized possession is an undefeated rookie card of NFL legend Jim Brown. Brown played fullback for the Cleveland Browns from 1957-1965 and is widely regarded as the greatest running back of all time with 12,312 career rushing yards. In mint condition, a 1957 Topps Jim Brown rookie card recently sold for $2.4 million through Goldin Auctions in May 2021. The rarity and cost is driven by the fact that Topps printed well under 1,000 of Brown’s rookie card during its short 1957 run. With his iconic career success and record-breaking stats, Brown rookie cards from the 1950s in top condition will likely continue appreciating into the multi-million dollar range.
Another exceedingly rare and expensive football card belongs to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice. Considered by many experts to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, Rice played 20 seasons from 1985-2004 mostly with the 49ers, winning three Super Bowls. His 1985 Fleer rookie card was only produced in extremely small quantities which has driven the prices of high graded specimens into the stratosphere. One gem mint graded PSA 10 Rice rookie card sold for a world record $2.2 million through Goldin Auctions in May 2018, shattering the previous record price paid for a modern-era football card (1986 or later).
Although post-war cards from the 1950s onward command the highest prices, there are also some pre-WWII cards that can fetch millions due to their early issue dates and rarity. One of the costliest is the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth baseball card, which depicts the legendary “Sultan of Swat” as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox before becoming the home run king with the New York Yankees. Very few of the 1914 Ruth cards survived in high grade as they were printed on low quality cardboard stock almost 110 years ago. A PSA 5 example sold for $1.26 million through Christie’s auction house in 2016.
In the realm of 1890s-1910s tobacco era cards, the highest price ever paid was $3.12 million for an 1909-1911 T206 Walter Johnson card graded PSA Authentic, sold through Goldin Auctions in 2021. Johnson had a prolific career mostly with the Washington Senators and is regarded as one of the premier power pitchers in early MLB history. Another seven figure tobacco card was a 1910 Orange Borders Nap Lajoie that achieved $1 million even through an auction held by Memory Lane Inc. in 2020. Lajoie was a five-time MLB batting champion and member of the American League’s inaugural class of inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As the populations of high graded specimens of these legendary early 20th century players continue to dwindle, prices are expected to only rise further. With each new auction record, more attention is brought upon the lucrative vintage sports card market. For wealthy collectors looking to own tangible pieces of history from the birth of professional baseball and football, mint condition cards of all-time greats like Wagner, Mantle, Brown, Ruth, Walter Johnson and Nap Lajoie will remain among the most investment-worthy assets in the collecting universe.
