The Sultan of Swat fell a bit short this time.
A rare card from the All-Star’s rookie year with the Baltimore Orioles sold for $7.2 million at auction Monday, making it the third most expensive sports card to ever sell at auction. While it was the most expensive Ruth item to ever be sold, the total was a bit lower than promoters were hoping for.
When it was announced last month, there was speculation that the 1914 Baltimore News card, which features a 19-year-old Ruth in his rookie season, could fetch more than $10 million—and possibly could top the record $12.6 million a fan paid for a 1952 mint condition Mickey Mantle card last year.
It didn’t. And it fell a few dollars shy of the $7.25 million a fan paid last August for a Honus Wagner card.
The Ruth card had been owned by the same family for over 100 years and has been on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum since 1998. There are only 10 known versions of this card in existence.
“This is a card that every collector dreams of owning, and with so few examples in existence, there is almost no desire to sell these cards by the few privileged enough to own them,” said the president of sports memorabilia auction house REA in a statement when the card went on sale. “It is very likely to be the only example we’ll see available for purchase for years to come.”
This is the first time a Ruth rookie card has been up for sale in over a decade. And another isn’t likely to go on the block for many years. There’s only one known other copy of this card with the same grade from SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation). And only one known copy that is graded higher.