I think it's a combination of scarcity and condition driving the price.
If you look at the 1952 Topps set, there's an interesting tidbit about the high number series cards.
From Cardboard Connection:
Quote:
Folklore and Legends
No one but the Yankees' scouting department could foresee just what a legendary figure "The Mick" would become, not even the set's architect, Sy Berger. It's been long said that Berger, stuck with several unsold pallets of high-numbered series cases, unceremoniously dumped the cards into the Hudson River with a forklift. This disturbing fact haunts collectors to this day, knowing that one of the most valuable baseball cards ever made likely has several dozen examples entombed in a watery grave.
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Hmm.
Anybody got a scuba set, and a HASMAT suit I can borrow?
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