(LOT 32)
1922 E120 American Caramel Co. Babe Ruth SGC 3 VG
RUTH CANDY TREAT!!! By the start of the 1922 baseball campaign, Babe Ruth's unprecedented assault on the fences turned the baseball world upside down. His 54 and 59 round-trippers in 1920 and 1921, respectively, outhomered virtually every MLB team, quickly making people forget he was baseball's greatest southpaw pitcher during his years in Beantown, MA. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Babe Ruth's early 1920s Yankees cards are now skyrocketing in value with each and every passing sale. Ignited by the pricing escalation for Ruth's four 1933 Goudey issues, attention has now swayed to his much scarcer early 1920s cards, with a PSA 7 NM 1921 E121 Ruth fetching a record-breaking $337K in 2021, while a PSA 5 E220 National Caramel Ruth realized a staggering $195K in our September 2023 Auction! Presented here just happens to be another one of Babe Ruth's highly coveted early 1920s issues, the seldom-surfacing 1922 American Caramel E120 in a stellar PSA 3 VG holder. The Lancaster, PA based American Caramel Company followed up their highly successful 1921 black and white candy card baseball card set by issuing an extensive 240-subject gathering in 1922 that included an exalted Babe Ruth "holding ball" subject.

At this juncture, the Bambino had revolutionized baseball with his mammoth dingers, saving America's Pastime in lieu of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Fans gravitated to this larger-than-life icon, justifying why companies promoted their brand by placing Ruth's picture on a myriad of their products. The classic image graces the elaborate sepia oval frame, with the Bambino's pose reflecting fine contrast and superb resolution, as well as revealing atypically excellent centering (most E120s exhibit skewed images). The striking "holding ball" illustration is also seen on Ruth's 1922 E121 American Caramel and 1922 Neilson's Chocolate cards, which are truly coveted by the collecting community. The obverse side has eluded any glaring surface flaws, with modest corner wear, two diagonal creases situated near the lower corners, and some negligible toning on the flip-side accounting for the grade. In closing, it was only a matter of time before these undervalued black and white 1920s Ruth cards exploded in value, and due to the excessive demand for early 1920s Sultan of Swat cards far surpassing their limited supply, we highly expect this spiraling pricing uptick to continue towards stratospheric levels!

MIN BID $5,000
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