Vintage baseball owned the week, and one auction did the heavy lifting: Goldin's Fall Vintage Elite closed overnight October 10–11 with three lots above half a million dollars, all of them old-school baseball. Every figure below is on Goldin's own lot page and was reported by Sports Collectors Daily. Prices include Goldin's buyer's premium. Signals, not appraisals.
1 — 1932 U.S. Caramel Babe Ruth, signed: $976,000
$976,000 ($800,000 winning bid, 26 bids), per Goldin's lot page. The card is a 1932 U.S. Caramel (R328) #32 Babe Ruth, signed and inscribed "Sincerely – Babe Ruth" in black fountain pen. The slab reads Authentic and Auto 9. Goldin bills it as the only known signed U.S. Caramel card across all 32 subjects in the set.
That split label is the story. The card is confirmed genuine but carries no numeric condition grade, while the signature earned a PSA 9. The autograph is doing the pricing work. We break the label down line by line in PSA Authentic + 9 Auto, explained.
AOM signal: A one-of-one signed Ruth is a category of its own. Compare it to other signed Ruths, not to unsigned copies of the card.
2 — Ty Cobb sliding into third, Conlon Type I photo: $945,500
$945,500 ($775,000 winning bid, 30 bids), per Goldin's lot page. This one isn't a card. It's an 8x10 Type I original photograph by Charles M. Conlon of Cobb sliding into third at Hilltop Park on July 23, 1910, from the "Cooperstown Collection," authenticated by PSA/DNA. Goldin and Sports Collectors Daily describe it as the finer of only two PSA-certified Type I examples of the image.
It finished about $30,500 behind the Ruth card. Top-tier vintage photography now trades in the same band as headline cardboard. The full story, and the image's sales history, is in Type I vintage sports photos: the record board.
AOM signal: Type I photos of iconic images are priced like trophy cards. If you collect the era, they belong on your radar, not only the cardboard.
3 — 1949 Bowman #50 Jackie Robinson, PSA Mint 9: $518,500
$518,500 ($425,000 winning bid, 20 bids), per Goldin's lot page. Goldin calls it the highest-graded PSA copy. Sports Collectors Daily reports it's one of 13 at PSA 9 with no PSA 10s, and the slab also carries MBA Bronze Diamond certification.
The same sale logged a signed 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folder Ty Cobb "Steals Third" (PSA 4 (MK) card, PSA/DNA 9 autograph) at $396,500 and a 1916 M101-5 Sporting News #151 Babe Ruth blank-back rookie at $292,800, per Sports Collectors Daily. Robinson sat in the upper tier without cracking seven figures.
AOM signal: A top-pop 1949 Bowman Robinson trades in the mid-six figures. Comp grade for grade: a PSA 9 result says very little about a PSA 6.
Check Current Listings
- 1932 U.S. Caramel Babe Ruth on eBay
- Conlon Ty Cobb photograph on eBay
- 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson PSA on eBay
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Keep Exploring
- PSA Authentic + 9 Auto, explained
- Type I vintage sports photos: the record board
- PSA Verify: check a cert before you buy
- Gem Hunter map
Signal, not an appraisal. Figures from Goldin's lot pages and Sports Collectors Daily; verify live before buying or selling.
