Babe Ruth Rookie

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Balt News - minor league rookie

1915 RPPC - team rookie

1916 m101-4/5 - traditional rookie

hey... Seattle!

+1

[DennyH]

figured I would go ahead and start from top and work my way down and the Babe is the epitome of baseball so thought it would be best to go for his rookie card.

It seems like after my bit of research it may be pretty hard to find one under the $20k range... or at all.

I guess at the end of the day coming from collecting in the 80's I never thought that there could be such a limited supply of a card especially with numbers like only 2 exist in the Authentic grade... Wow!

Can anyone explain why the M101 Ruth is not worth more than the T206 Wagner with this type of rarity because it seems like they are neck to neck on the number out there.

please forgive me if I am off as I am simply a novice in the prewar era trying to learn more and understand.

[vthobby]

Denny,

That is a good question.

They are both INCREDIBLE cards but the Wagner has 100 years of stories and lore. If you read about the "old days" and the old old time collectors like Burdick and Carter, they always referred to the Wagner (not always in great regard either!) but there has always been mystery, confusion, drama, HIGH profile buyers, and it has snowballed. Read this board for awhile and you will see and learn about COUNTLESS cards that are rarer than "daddy wags" but that apparently does not matter to the folks that keep shelling out millions of dollars for him.

Who knows maybe someday, the tide will reverse and the TRUE rarities will overtake the T206 Honus Wagner but I'm still waiting for that day.

Take care and welcome to the boards,

Peace, Mike

PS to answer your question " is there any way to determine who owns the Authentic stabbed cards": The quick answer is "No". Those 2 folks are probably sitting on those 2 and are quite content. If they ever surface, it will most likely be at a larger auction so as to maximize potential and profit. You would be surprised as some slabbed "Authentic" cards surpass even some lower graded examples so you never know!

[Jewish-collector]

There always seems to be at least one of the 1916 M101-5 Babe Ruth Rookie cards #151 in every large catalog auction. Just keep watching.

[x2drich2000]

Denny, one of the big things I think you might be missing from the pop reports is that the Ruth comes with so many different backs split between both the m101-4 and m101-5 sets. Both PSA and SGC split all these backs out separately. If you combined the pop reports of all the various backs I think you'll see the Ruth is not as rare as you think. This is why the Ruth also seems to show up in just about every major auction, sometimes with multiple copies in the same auction. On the other hand, the Wagner comes up about two to three times a year on average and I don't recall ever hearing of an auction with more than one. Add in the history, controversy, and popularity of the Wagner, I think it is easy to see why the Wagner sells for more. In addition, If it was not for the Ruth, the m101-4/5 sets would probably rarely be thought about by most collectors where as the Wagner is from probably the most collected pre-1930's set.

DJ

[felada]

This is Adrian all over again...

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by felada

this is adrian all over again...

totally!

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by DennyH

Is there any way to determine who owns the Authentic stabbed cards? Anyone on this board or anyone whom one can contact to see about purchasing an Authentic because it sounds like its within my range north of 10,000 for a Ruth rookie.



If anyone is selling or know anyone who is please contact me about a possible purchase.

Originally Posted by felada

This is Adrian all over again...

Denny, are you by any chance looking to sell a rare coin to fund this purchase? Welcome to the board!

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

Denny, one of the big things I think you might be missing from the pop reports is that the Ruth comes with so many different backs split between both the m101-4 and m101-5 sets. Both PSA and SGC split all these backs out separately. If you combined the pop reports of all the various backs I think you'll see the Ruth is not as rare as you think. This is why the Ruth also seems to show up in just about every major auction, sometimes with multiple copies in the same auction. On the other hand, the Wagner comes up about two to three times a year on average and I don't recall ever hearing of an auction with more than one. Add in the history, controversy, and popularity of the Wagner, I think it is easy to see why the Wagner sells for more. In addition, If it was not for the Ruth, the m101-4/5 sets would probably rarely be thought about by most collectors where as the Wagner is from probably the most collected pre-1930's set.

DJ

My best guess, which matches that of several dealers I have discussed the matter with, is there are around 200 of the 1916 M101's. About 60-65 of the T206 Wagners are believed to exist.

Best,

Larry

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

Denny, one of the big things I think you might be missing from the pop reports is that the Ruth comes with so many different backs split between both the m101-4 and m101-5 sets. Both PSA and SGC split all these backs out separately. If you combined the pop reports of all the various backs I think you'll see the Ruth is not as rare as you think. This is why the Ruth also seems to show up in just about every major auction, sometimes with multiple copies in the same auction. On the other hand, the Wagner comes up about two to three times a year on average and I don't recall ever hearing of an auction with more than one. Add in the history, controversy, and popularity of the Wagner, I think it is easy to see why the Wagner sells for more. In addition, If it was not for the Ruth, the m101-4/5 sets would probably rarely be thought about by most collectors where as the Wagner is from probably the most collected pre-1930's set.

DJ

+1. IMHO, probably a couple hundred of the 1916 M 101's in total exist. And indeed, good luck finding any example under $20K.

Happy hunting,

Larry

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

+1. IMHO, probably a couple hundred of the 1916 M 101's in total exist. And indeed, good luck finding any example under $20K.

Happy hunting,

Larry

Unless an M101 Ruth Rookie is an “authentic” because it has been chewed apart by the family pet, you cannot find one for less than $50K anymore. Low grade 1’s - 2’s range between $65 - $120K (give or take) with really nice eye appeal ones at that grade level sometimes fetching even higher prices. The VG - EX levels easily jump to the $150K - $275K range, once again with aesthetics driving the prices. FYI, any extremely well centered examples typically realize significant premiums.