Baseball cards are some of the most sought after items in the card collecting hobby and can fetch thousands, even millions, of dollars at auction. Of course, the rarer a card is, the more valuable it is and the cards on this list are not only some of the hardest to find in the hobby, but routinely sell for at least tens of thousands. Some of the more iconic cards on this list are even worth a couple million dollars!
Topps #311 Mickey Mantle
Current Number in Existence: About 1,769
Designed and Issued By: Topps
Year(s) Produced: 1952
Current Value: $5.2 Million paid at auction in 2021
In early 2021 the Topps #311 Mickey Mantle became the most valuable sports card ever sold. A copy of the legendary card was purchased by entrepreneur Rob Gough, who had always dreamed of owning an original Topps #311 Mickey Mantle. While the Topps #311 is not Mantle’s official rookie card, it is the most important card in his legacy. According to some, while the Honus Wagner is rarer and nearly priceless, the Topps #311 Mickey Mantle is the real face of the baseball card world. The reason for this card’s particular scarcity and value is for a number of reasons: 1952 was the first year that Topps began making sports cards so any of the first run cards are highly desired and high number cards, between 311 to 407, were not printed in high volumes so fewer of them have survived.
Topps #1 Andy Pafko
Current Number in Existence: About 1,363
Designed and Issued By: Topps
Year(s) Produced: 1952
Current Value: $250,000 paid at auction in 2007
Andy Pafko was not a star baseball player and never made it into the Hall of Fame. However, he is now best known for being on the first baseball card ever produced by Topps. In 1952, Topps released #1 Andy Pafko in its very first set of baseball cards. The reason the Topps #1 Andy Pafko is now rare is because at the time the card was first released, kids always put the first card in a set on top of their stack. This meant that any opened Topps #1 Andy Pafko cards were worn out. Very few of these cards exist in good condition today.
Topps #407 Eddie Matthews Rookie Card
Current Number in Existence: About 831
Designed and Issued By: Topps
Year(s) Produced: 1952
Current Value: $250,000 PSA Estimate
Topps #407 Eddie Matthews was the last card produced in Topps first set of baseball cards in 1952. For various reasons the cards between #311 to #407 were made in lower quantities. Additionally, as the last card in the set #407 Eddie Matthews cards were often damaged/worn out. Kids at the time put the last card in a set on the bottom of their collections. Currently, there are only about 16 cards in PSA grade 8 or above. No cards in PSA Mint 10 grade have ever been found.
T206 Sherry “Magie” (Magee)
Current Number in Existence: Less than 175
Designed and Issued By: American Tobacco Company
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to 1911
Current Value: $660,000 PSA Estimate
Along with the Honus Wagner, Joe Doyle error, and Eddie Plank T206 cards, the Sherry “Magie” (Magee) error card is one of the rarest and most valuable baseball card in the baseball card collecting hobby. Of all the error cards, this one is the most famous because Magee’s last name is misspelled as “Magie.” The “Magie” cards were printed during the initial run, but the error was caught pretty early on. Only a small number of Sherry “Magie” cards were made, while the normal, high volume of cards were printed with the correct spelling. It is estimated that there are less than 175 known Sherry “Magie” cards in existence today.
T206 Eddie Plank
Current Number in Existence: less than 100
Designed and Issued By: American Tobacco Company (ATC)
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to 1911
Current Value: $850,000 PSA estimate
Although the T206 Eddie Plank card is not quite as rare as some of the other cards on this list, it is widely considered to be the second most desirable card in the T206 series and highly underrated. Like the T206 Honus Wagner card, very few Eddie Plank cards were produced. The reason why so few Eddie Plank cards were made remains a mystery, but many experts speculate that Plank (and also Wagner) either wanted to be paid more for his image or just didn’t feel comfortable promoting cigarettes to children. Plank was actually one of the most outspoken anti-tobacco advocates in baseball and he lived a very clean lifestyle free of alcohol and partying as well.
American Caramel Joe Jackson
Current Number in Existence: Less than 95
Designed and Issued By: American Caramel
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to 1911
Current Value: $667,189 paid at auction in 2019
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson is infamous for his alleged association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which players from the 1919 Chicago White Sox attempted to fix the World Series. Arguments over whether or not Jackson participated in the career-ending event still persist today, and many people believe that he would have been one of baseball’s greatest had his career not ended so early and unfavorably. Since, Jackson’s career was cut short, not many cards were made of him while he was still active in the sport. Of all the cards that do exist of him, the rarest and most valuable is the American Caramel Joe Jackson rookie card. There are less than 95 of these cards around today and one American Caramel Joe Jackson card was sold for over $667,000.
T206 Honus Wagner
Current Number in Existence: 50 to 75
Designed and Issued By: American Tobacco Company (ATC)
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to 1911
Current Value: $3.12 million paid at auction in 2016
Of all the baseball cards to ever exist, the T206 Honus Wagner is the most coveted because so few were produced. It is estimated that only about 50 to 200 T206 Honus Wagner cards were ever released, which is significantly lower than the “tens or hundreds of thousands” of T206 cards produced for other players. Although there are between 50 to 75 T206 Honus Wagners known to currently exist, these cards do not often go up for sale very often and this only increases its value. As of 2016, the most paid for a T206 Honus Wagner was $3.12 million. At the time this was the most ever paid for a baseball card, but this record was recently broken. Other examples of this rare Honus Wagner card have sold for between $451,000 to $2.8 million.
T206 Ty Cobb Back
Current Number in Existence: about 23
Designed and Issued By: American Tobacco Company (ATC)
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to 1911
Current Value: $3 million for “The Lucky 7” paid at auction in 2016
Ty Cobb, aka The Georgia Peach, is one of the most legendary baseball players to have ever lived and his baseball cards and memorabilia are some of the most popular collectible items. With many Ty Cobb cards produced over the years, they of course range in rarity and value. Of all the Ty Cobb cards out there, the T206 Ty Cobb Back is the rarest and most valuable. In 2016, an anonymous family from the Southern United States made the discovery of a lifetime when they found seven of these rare Ty Cobb Back cards in a paper bag that was nearly thrown out. The find, dubbed “The Lucky 7” was eventually sold for auction for about $3 million!
Sporting News Babe Ruth Rookie Card
Current Number in Existence: About 20
Designed and Issued By: Sporting News
Year(s) Produced: 1915/1916
Current Value: $1.452 million paid at auction in 2021
Babe Ruth is unarguably the greatest player that baseball has ever seen and anything associated with him is valuable and collectible. However, the Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card, is not often talked about in the baseball card collecting hobby and is typically overlooked. Although this piece of Babe Ruth card is overshadowed by legendary T206 Honus Wagner and Topps #311 Mickey Mantle, it is worth a pretty penny and difficult to find. According to PSA, the one near mint (PSA Grade 8) Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card is worth $3 million. However, the most that anyone has ever paid for a copy of Sporting New Babe Ruth rookie card is $1.452 million in 2021. Even in poor condition, the card is worth at least $20,000 and people often pay three times that amount for the few cards that go up for sale.
T206 Joe Doyle N.Y. NAT’L
Current Number in Existence: less than 10
Designed and Issued By: American Tobacco Company (ATC)
Year(s) Produced: 1909 to sometime before 1911
Current Value: $550,000 PSA Estimate
While there are a few cards in the famed T206 series that are hard to come by, the T206 Joe Doyle N.Y. NAT’L error card is the rarest baseball card in the world with fewer than 10 known examples. The reason for the rarity of the Joe Doyle card is that it incorrectly listed N.Y. NAT’L after Doyle’s name – Doyle played for the Highlanders of the American League and not the Giants of the National League. The mistake was caught early on in the production of the T206 series and no one knows for sure how many of the error cards were released to the public. In fact no one even knew that the Joe Doyle error cards existed until 1980s when long-time dealer and collector Larry Fritsch had finally revealed that he had noticed the mistake on the card and was looking for more.
This article originally appeared on Rarest.org.
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