A century-old Ty Cobb card came within inches of a new all-time sales record Friday night when it sold for $870,000 at Heritage against a $100,000.
The T206 Ty Cobb card, graded PSA 9 — a miraculous condition grade for such an old card — is a “Bat Off Shoulder” variations, one of four types featuring Cobb in the famed T206 set. Its card back is Piedmont 350, among the more common from the T206 set.
PSA has graded just 92 copies of T206 Cobbs of the same variant and card back, with only two PSA 9s and none higher.
CLLCT'S FULL COVERAGE OF HERITAGE SUMMER PLATINUM AUCTIONS:
- Babe Ruth ‘Called Shot’ jersey sells for record $24.12 million
- Jackie Robinson 1951 jersey sells for record $5.52 million
- Mickey Mantle jersey from 1952-53 World Series sells for $3 million
- Hank Aaron rookie jersey sells for record $2.1 million
- Jackie Robinson debut ticket sells for $324,000, third-highest price for unsigned ticket
- Michael Jordan jersey from 'Last Dance' season sells for $360,000
- Barry Bonds' record-tying 755th HR ball sells for $102k
Neither Mint examples have ever sold publicly prior to Friday night, with sales of the next highest available grade, a PSA 8, appearing in public sales record just four times since 2016, most recently selling for $222,000 in November 2023.
The most expensive Cobb card ever sold publicly remains the $876,000 paid for another T206 variant, featuring the ultra-rare “Ty Cobb” card back and provenance tracing it to the legendary “Black Swamp Find,” considered one of the greatest discoveries of vintage baseball cards in history. That card, which set the record in 2020, is graded PSA 4.5.
Though falling $6,000 short of the record, the Cobb sale Friday night makes it not only the second most expensive Cobb card of all time, but also a Cobb record for the “Bat Off Shoulder” variant as well for any Piedmont back.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct. You can follow him on X at @Will__Stern.