A 1948 Jackie Robinson autographed rookie card sold Thursday night for $84,000 at CollectAuctions, a record for the card in any grade.
When collectors think of Jackie Robinson’s rookie card, his 1948 Leaf undoubtedly comes to mind. It’s not only widely considered Robinson’s best known and most valuable rookie card, but also one of the most iconic vintage baseball cards ever produced.
The 1948 R346 "Blue Tint" rookie is far more obscure, not to mention far rarer. PSA has graded just 66 examples of Robinson’s rookie card from the set compared with more than 1,800 from the Leaf set.
The Blue Tint set was originally issued in vertical strips of eight cards, requiring collectors to hand cut individual cards, making the set extremely condition sensitive.
Prior to this sale, the record price paid for a Blue Tint Robinson was $8,872 for one of two PSA 7 copies (none higher) in May 2022.
Despite the population disparity, the Leaf card has consistently fetched massive premiums comparatively, with the record for the card (sans auto) coming in February 2022 for $468,000.
The record for the Leaf card overall, however, belongs to a signed example which sold for $588,000 in August 2023. PSA has authenticated just four signed examples of the Leaf Robinson rookie.
Only a single signed Blue Tint Robinson appears in the PSA census — the same card sold Thursday evening — and there is no record of this card ever selling publicly previously.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.