A 1933 Babe Ruth card, one of the world’s most iconic baseball trading cards, is expected to sell for more than US$5.2 million at auction next month.
The estimated value would break the current record for a sports card sold at auction, which was set by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 9 that sold to actor and entrepreneur Rob Gough for US$5.2 million in January.
The 1933 Babe Ruth card is one of a set of four Goudey Ruth cards with a yellow background that debuted the first modern gum card issues, with a limited number sold with a stick of gum.
Numbered 53 and with a grading of PSA 9 (one grade below the highest grading of 10 by the Professional Sports Authenticator), the card was in the private collection of the late Thomas Newman, a Tampa, Fla., neurologist, for 25 years, according to Tustin, California-based Memory Lane Auctions, which is handling the sale.
