A rare Babe Ruth rookie card has sold at auction for just over $4 million — nearly $3 million less than experts expected it to fetch.
The card was listed in an auction handled by Heritage Auctions with a starting price of $2.6 million, with those in the know suggesting that its final sale price would exceed $7 million.
Seventeen cards were reportedly produced for the 1914 Baltimore News set, but only 11 are known to survive. The Babe Ruth card is considered the set’s centerpiece, with just 10 authenticated by professional grading services. Only one card has received a higher grade, and it has not appeared at auction in more than a decade, according to baseball card experts.
Ruth was born George Herman Ruth on Feb. 6, 1895, at 216 Emory Street in Southwest Baltimore. He made a name for himself as an outfielder for the New York Yankees after being sold to the team by the Boston Red Sox. Before that, he signed his first professional contract with the Baltimore Orioles at the age of 19.
His childhood home is now a museum dedicated to “The Great Bambino,” as well as other Charm City sports legends, located in Ridgley’s Delight, just a few blocks away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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