High Grade Ruth Rookie

[oldjudge]

I have been made aware that a high grade Ruth rookie—a nice looking PSA 5 Gimbels back—is coming up for auction in Bonhams in a few days



I am posting this as a service to any members who may have missed the listing (I was one, and find it interesting that the auction house did not post on this site). Any perspective bidders should note that the buyers premium, if I am reading things correctly, is 28% on the first $50,000 and 27% on the remainder up to $1 million. If this card were to be auctioned at Heritage or Memory Lane I think it would go for over $1 million. I wonder what it will go for here.

[irv]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I have been made aware that a high grade Ruth rookie—a nice looking PSA 5 Gimbels back—is coming up for auction in Bonhams in a few days



I am posting this as a service to any members who may have missed the listing (I was one, and find it interesting that the auction house did not post on this site). Any perspective bidders should note that the buyers premium, if I am reading things correctly, is 28% on the first $50,000 and 27% on the remainder up to $1 million. If this card were to be auctioned at Heritage or Memory Lane I think it would go for over $1 million. I wonder what it will go for here.

This is the first time I have ever heard of Bonham's auction so it does make me wonder why the seller chose them and not another one like Heritage, ML or REA? I guess there's no better way of advertising your House than getting word out about this card, but maybe they are already popular and I'm just behind the times?

[D. Bergin]

Bonhams is probably bigger and older then all the previously mentioned auction houses combined.

That’s not an endorsement, rather an explanation of how they may have come across a piece like this. Maybe a collector or consortium they also handled a number of cars and/or pieces of high end art for.

[irv]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Bonhams is probably bigger and older then all the previously mentioned auction houses combined.

That’s not an endorsement, rather an explanation of how they may have come across a piece like this. Maybe a collector or consortium they also handled a number of cars and/or pieces of high end art for.

Did not know that, Dave.
Thanks for letting me know.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by irv

Did not know that, Dave.
Thanks for letting me know.

Like most high end art houses, I believe they’ve also courted their fair share of controversy through the years also.

Not my world, but watched enough documentaries about art scams to pick them out of a line-up.

[irv]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Like most high end art houses, I believe they’ve also courted their fair share of controversy through the years also.

Not my world, but watched enough documentaries about art scams to pick them out of a line-up.

Hmm, interesting.

[oldjudge]

I may have missed it but I did not see sports collectibles as one of their auction specialties. If that is the case, for an item like this which is a very expensive piece, I would expect to see more advertising. That said, they are a big well established house and they no doubt know what they are doing.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I may have missed it but I did not see sports collectibles as one of their auction specialties. If that is the case, for an item like this which is a very expensive piece, I would expect to see more advertising. That said, they are a big well established house and they no doubt know what they are doing.

Um...they have been around since the 1800s, I believe. Not sure how much or if any advertising they do but clearly whatever they are doing, they do not need to change a thing.

[nolemmings]

FWIW, I saw the card promoted in Sports Collectors Daily back at the end of March, so they made some effort to get the word out. I am a little curious as to why the family has only the Ruth card, since grandpa obviously had at least 19 other subjects if not more, and if he/they got rid of others over the years you would think they would be a little more familiar with the market when choosing an auction house.

[oldjudge]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

Um...they have been around since the 1800s, I believe. Not sure how much or if any advertising they do but clearly whatever they are doing, they do not need to change a thing.

I respectfully have to disagree. Having potential bidders on a 6-7 figure item unaware of your auction leaves room for improvement.

[Republicaninmass]

Here as well, but many times.sellers are contacted before they ship! It's much tougher even in "no name" auction houses, let alone Bonham!

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[raulus]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Here as well, but many times.sellers are contacted before they ship! It's much tougher even in "no name" auction houses, let alone Bonham!

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

HA.

Yeah...I always hold my breath until it actually gets to me. Seems like there's always that risk that the seller will wise up and cancel the sale. Hasn't happened to me yet, but there's always that paranoia.

I've also acquired some nice pieces from AHs at what I felt were bargain prices when they were lost in the shuffle. Sometimes it's because they didn't show up in search results, so I suspect that some bidders couldn't find them. Luckily, I've never had to worry about those AHs backing out on me.