Rare Ty Cobb Rookie Card Sold With Over 1 Million Other Cards
The owner of a 1980s sports card show sold more than one million sports cards to Auction Monthly recently. In the lot was a very rare 1907 Ty Cobb postcard from Cobb's third season.
The postcard, a 1907-1909 Dietsche Detroit Tigers Postcards distributed by A.C. Dietsche Publisher, has to be from the 1908 or 1909 release because Cobb's name appears at the bottom of the front, which was blank in the 1907 edition.
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Only 4 of the 1908 Cobb have been graded by PSA, and only 5 of the Tigers card are in the PSA population.
There have been no public sales of the 1908 version of the postcard, but the last 1907 sale was for a PSA 3 that sold in 2023 for more than $17,000 on eBay.
Cobb was one of the greatest hitters of all-time, having won the batting title 12 times and holding the career record for batting average at .366.
Other highlights from the collection include:
- Run of complete Topps Baseball sets from 1956-1975, several pack-fresh and pulled from vending boxes
- 15 sealed 1986 Topps Hobby Boxes (from an original case) featuring Jerry Rice rookie card
- 1909-11 T206 Ty Cobb "Bat On Shoulder" baseball card
- 1955 All-American Football Complete Set with Jim Thorpe
- Signed pre-war cards, including 1933 Goudey set, as well as signed team baseballs from the 1950s featuring Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and other Hall of Fame icons.
- Extensive collection of T206 baseball cards and hundreds of pre-war cards, including rare Hall of Famers like Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb and many others.
- 10 sealed cases of 1982-1985 Donruss, Fleer, and Topps Baseball cards, including hobby, cello, and vending boxes
- Hundreds of rare vintage ticket stubs and sports pins from the 1940s and 1960s
- Thousands of rookie sports cards, memorabilia and signed baseballs, including Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and many more Hall of Famers.
"This collection is truly remarkable and unlike anything we've ever acquired," said Ryan Jones, Auction Monthly's Director of Marketing & Public Relations. "The previous owner meticulously preserved these items, including unopened wax boxes and cases, and vintage cards in pristine, pack-fresh condition."
Any time a rare early playing-days Cobb hits the market, it's newsworthy.
Mike runs the hobby YouTube channel Junk Wax Hero, where he talks about a lot of different aspects of the hobby from a collector’s perspective. His most popular series is Attic Find Friday. He also writes a free weekly hobby recap newsletter at junkwaxhero.com. It’s a cliche, but his favorite card is the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.