More than a decade after the last similar example sold publicly, one of just three 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth No. 149 PSA 8.5s sold at Fanatics Collect Thursday night for a record $1.62 million.
It's now the fourth-most expensive sale of a Ruth card in history according to Card Ladder. The last PSA 8.5 to sell publicly fetched $89,625 at Heritage in 2008.
According to Fanatics, the card was owned by a single family for decades before being sold privately to the current consignor. The consignor then graded the card through PSA before vaulting it with the company.
Among the finest examples of any Ruth card from the set, this Ruth also carries a PWCC–A Eye Appeal designation.
“I think it really speaks to the owners of this card and the stewards of this card that really respected it from the very, very beginning,” Fanatics Collect president Chris Lamontagne told cllct.
More than 90 years later, 1933 Goudey remains one of the most important sports card sets to ever release. Easily spotted by its bold colors, the set also features four distinct cards for Ruth — No. 53, No. 144, No. 149 and No. 181. According to PSA’s population report, only one PSA 10 has been awarded across more than 5,000 graded examples.
According to Lamontagne, the consignor, who wishes to remain anonymous, felt now was the right time to finally move on from the card.
“We’re super lucky that the consignor has an ongoing relationship with Fanatics Collect, so it came up in conversation,” Lamontagne said. “What accelerated the conversation was actually the Yankees being in the World Series and the Babe Ruth connection. That’s kind of where the dialog started, and it kind of grew from there quite quickly after the fact.”
According to data tool Card Ladder, the record for any Ruth No. 149 to sell publicly is the $540,000 paid at Heritage in 2021. The public record for any of the four Ruth cards from 1933 Goudey is $4.212 million for a No. 53 PSA 9 at Memory Lane in 2021.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.