Fresh To Market 1916 M101-5 Blank Back Babe Ruth Rookie Card PSA 3

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

What did it sell for? It says bidding has closed.

$355,600 according to the site

[oldjudge]

For a blank back that is about right. I think it might have gone for a tad more in REA or HA, but that is just speculation on my part.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

For a blank back that is about right. I think it might have gone for a tad more in REA or HA, but that is just speculation on my part.

I agree for the auction it was at not known for card auctions and for it being off center I think the price was respectable
I agree at a more traditional vintage card auction site it might have potentially gotten more eyes on it and another 15% bump

[molenick]

It's interesting to speculate about what AH would get the best price, but I can see why someone outside of the hobby who discovered this card would do what they did.

The thinking would be "everyone has heard of Sotheby's" rather than "collectors may be more comfortable/familiar with bidding on AHs that are sports memorabilia specialists, such as REA, LOTG, Mile High, Memory Lane, etc.". I left off Heritage because they seem to have a slightly larger footprint than the others, since they auction more than sports memorabilia.

When Christie's had their Golden Age of Baseball auctions in 2016 (?), I went through the process of registering because there were some items I wanted that I didn't think would come up for auction again and was able to bid through their portal.

But I probably wouldn't do that again for a "traditional" auction house if they offered the usual selection of graded cards that would probably show up in another auction at another time (not saying that the Ruth card is "usual").

[Brent G.]

Imagine spending $355k and still needing to send it to PSA to do the job right.