Most Valuable Cards in the hobby
 

Once we get past

T 206 Wagner
1914 Baltimore Times Ruth
Four Base Hits Anson
PSA 10 Topps Mangle


We wonder what other six cards (or card related items) would be on your list of the 10 most valuable baseball cards


Our thoughts include

1) Texas Tommy Wagner
2) Boston Garter (first series) Johnson
3) T 206 Doyle
4) R328 Lindstrom PSA 8
5) Texas Tommy Cobb
6) Uncut Boston Garter Sheet



Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

T206 plank
Ty cobb with ty cobb back

....

Most Valuable Cards in the Hobby
 

Here are a few others:

1) "VG" or Higher Babe Ruth M101 Rookie Card
2) "VG" or Higher T206 Plank
2) T210 Old Mill Joe Jackson
3) T206 Ty Cobb w/Ty Cobb Ad Back
4) Bresich Williams Wagner & Mathewson
5) 1912 Boston Garter Mathewson
6) 1914 Boston Garter Joe Jackson & Cobb
7) High Grade 1933 Goudey Lajoie

I would think N172 Anson in uniform would crack the top 3 or 4.

N172 Anson in uniform might sell for more then those cards on your list Bruce. Otherwise it's a good list.

I'm also thinking a Texas Tommy Joe Jackson might be a big deal if one came up.

E107 Matty
E107 Wagner
1952 Mantle (high grade)
N172 Anson in uniform
Just So Cy Young
4 Base Hits Kelly

to name a few that have not been mentioned.
JimB

How's this list?
 

1887 Four Base Hits King Kelly
L1 Helmar Leathers Ty Cobb
T206 Eddie Plank
T206 Joe Doyle, Hands above Head, N.Y. Nat'l
T207 Louis Lowdermilk, Red Cross back
1916 Boston Store Babe Ruth

Does this exist? Does anyone have an image?

No way.

http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Lot...%23127-Ty-Cobb

I could be wong, but I believe he meant the Four Base Hits King Kelly.

Tony

Jake,

Sorry. I had the one pictured here in mind when posting.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0664d0a5.jpg

I remember seeing this picture in an SMR before the auction took place and thinking that I would never be able to join the fray in bidding for it. Having looked a bit more deeply into things, I wish that I had made the commitment two years ago and gone after this. In retrospect, $26,400 seems like a bargain...to me, at least.

Thanks for weighing in on the list I provided. I mean that sincerely. Pre-war material is fairly new to me, and I do look to this board for guidance.

Best Regards,

Eric

Eric,

Back in the early 1990's, I had just gotten into collecting pre-war baseball items and had the time to go around looking for them (I was in college). Anyway, I was at an advertising show (I always found good things there but often didn't have the money to buy them) and I asked a dealer if he had any baseball items.

He said I had just missed a great piece. He then described the vertical Helmar advertising piece with the L-1 Leather, S-81 silk and the T-3 card. I think he said he was asking $6,000 for it but sold it for $4,000 dollars. More than I had at the time but a great piece I would like to own now....

David

I would consider the SGC 98 1914 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson card to be pretty special and would command some pretty nice coin!

T206 PSA 2 Danny Murphy Red Hindu.

1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski (high grade)

expensive
 

1966 topps mickey mantle double punchout

well played

How about Old Judge N172 California? Unfortuntely, not my card.

Joe

Not to put words in my friend Bruce's mouth but I think he was referring to Anson in Uniform, not Four Base Hits Anson. My list would be

T206 Wagner
Baltimore News Ruth
Anson in Uniform
Just So Young
T210 Jackson
Four Base Hits Kelly
M101 Ruth
Boston Store/ Collins McCarthy type Ruth
NY HOFer K-Bat (Ewing, Ward, Keefe, O'Rourke or Connor--all rare)
California League Old Judge

1888 Gypsy Queen California League - McDonald

Sold for $80,273 in 2001 (Sloate auction?).

I believe it's still the only copy known.

No Boston Garters?

Yes, only one copybook of the McDonald GQ is known. In fact, it is the only known GQ of this format. Truely an amazing card.

Would N172 Deacon White portrait, McCreachery, crack the top 10? Hard to place a value on it since it is unique and hasn't seen the light of day for so long.

Personally, if I had to chose between a unique California League card and the unique Deacon White portrait, I'm going to side with the HOFer. Not that I'll ever be faced with such a decision.

stephen strasburg auto superfractor rc is still up there too, right?

No Boston Garters--they are ad pieces with player images on them

Does anybody know how many Four Base Hits Kelly cards exist? Just curious.

They say they are "attractive cards" right on them. I am not sure how much more proof is needed than the card itself saying it's a card. There are several other "cards" I have more of an issue with in calling them cards.

Two are known. Not sure where Bruce came up with an Anson Four Base Hits, my guess is he made a mistake and meant to say Anson in Uniform.

I don't think $21,150 comes anywhere close to cracking the top 10 most valuable cards...

Cheers,
Blair

Good point Leon. I'm thinking of making up some shirts to wear that say "Tall, Dark and Handsome" :-)

I was merely stating what the card says, Jay. I look forward to seeing you wearing that shirt at the next National :).

Blair...i think Eric meant that..."it should" be one of the most valuable! :D

Be sure to look for someone taller, more swarthy, and better looking than you remember.

Adam- I've heard rumor of a second one, but never saw it to confirm.

Now that makes more sense :D.

Cheers,
Blair

I give my sincere thanks to everyone who commented on the list I posted. Sorry if it raised a few eyebrows. I am fairly new to pre-war material (clearly) and made a couple of unconventional choices as a result. In any event, I welcome the feedback and appreciate the opportunity to learn from everyone here.

I did respond to the OP rather quickly and it would have done me well to think things through a bit more thoroughly before chiming in. Moving forward, I will make every effort to follow my own advice here...so as not to make an @$$ out of myself too regularly:o

I thought about editing my post and revising my list somewhat; however, ultimately decided against it. Instead, I figured it best to simply admit that I weighed in too quickly, apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and chalk this up as a learning experience.

My thanks and apologies to all.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Eric

Eric, no need to say you're sorry at all IMO.

Sorry Eric - did not mean to pick on you...meant to pick on Pete! :D

I also learn something new from this crowd every day, and I expect that will continue for a long time.

Cheers,
Blair

E93 Cobb and Wagner in PSA 9's each sold for more than 200k a few years ago.
JimB

Jim- just my humble opinion, but this list should not be based on grade, just on card value for a nice collector copy.

Pre-War cards aren't the only valuable cards in the hobby. Here are some figures from Dmitri Young's recent sale:

The only 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 10 — $432,690.
1954 Topps Hank Aaron PSA 10 — $357,594.
The only 1963 Topps Pete Rose PSA 10 — $157,365.
1954 Topps Ernie Banks PSA 10 — $142,836.
1948 Bowman Stan Musial PSA 10 — $129,850.
The only 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson PSA 10 — $115,242.


I think some of these cards would occupy your list.

Just my opinion...but...in no way shape or form do those former dimitri young cards belong in this discussion!

Maybe in a thread titled "stupidest money ever paid for an otherwise common card."

In my opinion all of the cards in this thread have sold for stupid money.

Maybe so...but the fact that one could acquire all of the cards you mentioned at any given time for maybe 1 grand in nice vg-ex cond should disqualify them.

I believe that condition adds to rarity, but that's a debate for a different thread.

This isn't a thread about the rarest cards in the hobby, but the most valuable, and I hate to say it, but none of our cards hold any value past what someone is willing to pay for them thus making these cards completely valid in the discussion.

Have to agree with JHS here. Even though it's not my niche, and I don't understand why people collect the way they do (but more power to them, hip hip hoorah), the original question only has to do with value-

.


"We wonder what other six cards (or card related items) would be on your list of the 10 most valuable baseball cards"



.
.

blah blah blah! is everyone on this board now a lawyer...reading everything so literally?! I stand by my opinions...and I'm sure the thread starter would agree!

Awesome. Any word on who the player might be?

:D

I haven't given my input since most cards I would mention have already brought up. I did want to add, though, that I do agree with ULLMAN. I took the discussion meaning that no matter what condition you find that particular card in, would it be bring more money than other cards. For instance the t206 Wagner always breaks the $100,000, even when the sides and top are cut off.

So I think the question is grade for grade what is the most valuable. Since most of the cards previously discussed will NEVER be Gem Mint, we have to bring the other cards down to their level and assume the cards are all in VG condition or worse.

No.:(

I wonder
 

The top 10 or so cards being mentioned as "most valuable" often has me wondering why they are so valuable - compared to other seemingly comparable cards.

I have a few cards that are vintage playing years of Wagner & Ruth, highest or near highest ever graded, population figures near zilch, solid mid/upper grade in themselves, from recognizable known sets, and are worth a small fraction of the biggies mentioned. But, alas, they are not on the prized most valuable list.

Why is a "X" Ruth worth $ 4.k and the other Ruth worth $300.k more than that ???

One could argue that these belong in a "most valuable slab" thread. Crack these exact cards out and sell them, then what do they go for?

Some problems I have with the Dmitri Young cards being in this thread;

1) Since this is a pre-war forum (and I believe the thread originator is mainly a pre-war collector) I was assuming that only pre-war cards were too be considered.

2) Yes, those cards are high grade but have they been altered or overgraded? If so, then are they truly worth that much money?

3) If offered at different times (and not all together as they were) would they STILL bring as much money?

Put a T206 Wagner or a Baltimore News Ruth in an auction with a bunch of other good pre-war cards and the Wagner and Ruth are going to sell for big bucks just as they would if the auction had a T206 Wagner and 200 other lots of 1990 Fleer commons.

I don't think that would happen if only one of the DY collection were sold by itself and weren't surrounded by the hype (ESPECIALLY now that Mastro is supposedly going to testify about card altering and doctoring).

Finally, after 120 years, how many more Cap Anson in uniform or Four Base Hits King Kelly cards are likely going to appear? On the other hand, what is the likelihood that some unopened packs of cards from the 1950's and 1960's appear that basically haven't been touched since they were produced and that some really high grade cards come out of those?

My opinion is there aren't likely to be many more 80+ year old cards being found as compared to the likelihood of newer, high grade cards coming out of the woodwork. Thus, the newer cards are more likely to drop in price when more are found and if/when Mastro testifies and people reconsider the legitimacy of high grade cards.

David

John,

Many thanks. I appreciate your kind words.

Apology was offered out of respect to everyone here...I was having a, "did I really just put my foot in my mouth" moment.

Best,

Eric

Blair,

No problem, I wasn't feeling picked on...just making sure to let everyone know that I typically think my comments through a bit more thoroughly. I felt a bit like CNN...better to be correct than quick:D

Best Regards,

Eric

Pete,

Thanks for the support. Candidly, when I saw the hammer price (after posting..again, I ordinarily put a bit more thought and effort into things) I was stunned. This card is unique, yes?

Best Regards,

Eric

Eric...to date the rc lowdy is unique. Honestly... I also was surprised at the hammer price... Seemed pretty low to me!!!

Totally Agree with Pete,
 

None of DY cards are even rare. This is a Vintage Pre War Forum. So when the question was asked about the High value list... DY's PSA 10's Never would of come to my mind...

* Not at all directed to Eric's answer... even though he started this mess :D

:rolleyes: "Thanks Eric"

"Life is Soo Grand"