Arguably the finest and most valuable signed photo of Christy Mathewson in the world will return to the auction block this May at Memory Lane.
The 5-by-8-inch photo, which features Mathewson in a Giants uniform mid-pitch, was taken in 1911 and is signed “Yours Truly, Christy Mathewson.”
Taken by Cleveland Plain Dealer photographer Frank W. Smith, the photo was uncovered as part of his collection and originally sold in February 2015 at Heritage for $92,612.50.
The autograph is graded PSA/DNA 9.
A “Shoeless” Joe Jackson signed photo from the same collection sold for a record $1.47 million in 2021.
The Mathewson photograph sold most recently at public auction in 2021, fetching $137,500.
Now the photograph, in a new PSA holder denoting it as a Type I image — meaning it was developed from the original negative within around two years of the image being taken — will be sold at Memory Lane, with a starting bid of $50,000.
In recent years, the market for Type 1 photographs has heated up dramatically, punctuated by the sale of the image used to create Mickey Mantle’s 1951 Bowman rookie card for $843,750 in April 2024, a record for any unsigned Type 1 photograph at public auction.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.