One of the most important baseball cards in existence, the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth, is set to appear at a New Jersey auction that will take place in spring 2013.
The remarkable card will be offered with a minimum bid of just $100,000. It was last sold at auction in 2009, where it brought $152,750.
 Despite its relatively low grading, the card is expected to sell well |
The card has been graded PSA 1, which accounts for its relatively low valuation. In September, the same auction house sold a PSA 2 example for $575,000 in a private transaction, with the same card selling for $517,000 in 2007.
Of the 10 known examples of the Babe Ruth rookie card, this is the only one available on the current market, with eight examples spread across five private collections and another held at the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore. The auction house believes this will be the last example available for many years to come.
The card itself shows Babe Ruth as an unknown minor league rookie for the Baltimore Orioles, straight out of St Mary's Industrial School for Boys. It is the earliest known and most valuable Babe Ruth card, with his next card not seen until 1916, when he is shown as a Major League rookie for the Boston Red Sox.
According to the auction house, examples of this later card have seen a huge increase in value in recent years, which the earlier card would also have experienced had it been offered for sale.
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