Baseball Card Sells for Record Price of $3,936,000
- by Michael Stillman
The $3.936 million Mike Trout SuperFractor baseball card.
Move over Honus Wagner. Wagner, the turn-of-the-century baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, has long ruled the collectible works on paper field known as baseball cards. We used to flip these in a contest with our friends (for many, our introduction to the joys of gambling). We bought them in packs of 5 for a nickel (with a free piece of bubblegum to boot). Now they have become multi-million dollar collectibles with an industry to support them. Times have changed.
In 2016, a T-206 Honus Wagner card sold for an astounding $3.12 million. Originally, it didn't even cost five for a nickel. It was given away as a premium in packs of cigarettes by the American Tobacco Co. between 1909-1911. It is a rarity though not extremely so. There are 57 in existence. It's relative rarity is attributable to the objection of Wagner himself, a nonsmoker. The astronomical price for this particular card is due to it being in superb condition, evidently never flipped by a boy's hands.
This record was recently broken by an even rarer baseball card, though it has little in common with the type of baseball cards we used to collect. This one was rare from the get-go, what, in the book world we call a “limited edition,” or some, less charitably, refer to as a “manufactured rarity.” Exactly why someone would pay so much money for a card produced just 11 years ago for a player still active in the big leagues is a mystery to me. Sure, Mike Trout is an unusually good ballplayer, a sure-fire hall of famer, perhaps the greatest player of his generation. Still, $3.936 million for a relatively recent baseball card seems totally absurd to those who think of baseball cards as a kid's toy. Even though this is a rookie card, inherently more valuable for ballplayers who go on to be great, and that Trout has signed it, almost $4 million still seems a bit steep. Indeed, in 2018 this card sold for a mere $400,000, and wasn't that an amazing investment!
Baseball cards have changed a lot since my youth. Topps is still the popular brand, but now they have luxury models to go along with the plain old cards we knew. This card is from the “Bowman Chrome” collection. These are cards mostly produced during a player's rookie season, and often are autographed by him. Naturally, if you buy one of these for a player who later turns into a star, say, Mike Trout, then you've got something special. On top of this, there is something known as “Refractor” cards. These have a rainbow finish that stands out depending on how the card is turned. A Bowman Chrome Refractor is evidently better than an ordinary Bowman Chrome, or an ordinary Refractor. Then, within these, there are different print runs, ranging from five to a couple of hundred. Goldin Auctions, which sold this recent record-breaker, sold one of these one-of-five Mike Trout Refractors, #5/5, last spring for a whopping $922,500.
But wait. There is a higher level still. There is something called a SuperFractor. Of these, there is but one. There is some sort of gold coloring in the background, but probably not real gold as gold is not worth anywhere near as much as these baseball cards. So, it was the 2009 Mike Trout SuperFractor Topps Bowman Chrome card #1/1 that came up for sale at Goldin Auctions with a minimum bid of $1 million. Such a low minimum was not needed. There were 20 bids in the online auction that met that minimum, and when the final bidder saved the other 19 from themselves, the bid was $3,936,000. You could buy a mansion on the beach for that. Most people will never make more than a fraction of that much money in their lives. When the masses arise and demand the confiscation of the wealth of the rich, they will point to this act of decadence as proof they don't need all that money. I'm sure it's a nice baseball card, but seriously, it's still a baseball card. It could be a SupercaliFractor-expialidocious card and it still wouldn't justify spending $3.936 million on a baseball card. What is wrong with people?
Fonsie Mealy’s Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale April 30th & May 1st
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1:The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.
ABAA Spring VBF May 1-3 abaa.org/vbf
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Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR