Rare Roberto Clemente Rookie Card Headlines Sotheby's 'Holy Grails' Auction

A rare 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card in a PSA 9 Mint grade, is up for bids as part of Sotheby's Holy Grails auction. Clemente's rookie, in such good condition, certainly qualifies as a grail.

The card is one of 11 in a PSA 9 grade, with only one other graded higher - a PSA 10 Gem Mint.

This PSA 9 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente is among the finest ever graded. At the time of cataloging, of the more than 7,000 graded by PSA, it is one of just 11 PSA 9 examples in the world with only one PSA 10. Available only in this month’s #HolyGrails @Sothebys auction. pic.twitter.com/zOVKmp1wNn
— Fanatics Collect (@FanaticsCollect) September 15, 2024

More than 10,400 Clemente rookie cards have been submitted between grading companies PSA, SGC, and Beckett. Between the companies, only 13 have ever been given a 9 Mint designation (excluding PSA's qualifiers).

The copy in the Sotheby's auction last sold in June 2023 at Robert Edwards Auctions for $960,000, making it the second-highest sale for a Clemente rookie. The all-time high sale for his rookie card came in 2021 from another PSA 9 version at Goldin Auctions. That card sold for $1,107,000.

Clemente is considered one of the greatest right fielders of all time, finishing his career with 3,000 hits, 15 All-Star selections, 12 Gold Gloves, two World Series titles, and one NL MVP Award. He died in 1972 when his plane crashed while on a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua.

The card has an unknown reserve price, but bidding is already up to $400,000. A reserve price is the minimum price a seller is willing to accept.

Sotheby's Holy Grails auction ends on Sept. 24 with a live auction in New York City. Other items at auction include a 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson PSA 8 rookie card and a 1999 Pokemon 1st Edition Charizard Holo graded a CGC 10 Pristine.