Rare Babe Ruth card found by Altoona-area woman sells for $342,000

A collection of very old baseball cards turned out to be a treasure trove for an Altoona-area woman who works on the front lines of the pandemic.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, was going through her late grandfather’s belongings when she found a rare 1916 Babe Ruth card. On Sunday night, it sold for $342,000 in an online auction.

The card was part of a set of 10 Altoona Tribune baseball cards kept by her grandfather, who owned an antiques store in the Altoona area. The cards, which were designed to include advertising for everything from newspapers to clothing stores, had an Altoona Tribune ad slogan printed on the back.

“It’s not surprising that they are among the most rare because it’s a small-town newspaper in (central) Pennsylvania that didn’t have the national reach that some of these other manufacturers or companies that used these cards as advertising had,” said Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions, the company that sold the card.

Exactly how rare is this particular baseball card?

“We’re only aware of about 70 examples that survive with the Altoona Tribune (ad on the back) with any player. And this is only the second Babe Ruth that’s ever been discovered,” said Dwyer.

The only information the auction company would give about the woman who sold it is that she works at a hospital in Altoona and has been supporting front-line workers in the fight against covid-19.

The card is unusual for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it shows the Sultan of Swat, as the power-hitting Babe was known, as a pitcher, the position he played when he broke in with the Boston Red Sox in 1914. Ruth pitched in only five games that season and played his first full season in the big leagues the following year.

The Babe was known for sporting a rather plump physique throughout most of his Hall of Fame career. But on this card, he shows up as a long, lean lefty, likely making him virtually unrecognizable to some.

“The only unknown with this one was how our bidders would value the scarcity of the Altoona advertisement. They based a significant premium based on past sales,” Dwyer said.

Robert Edward Auctions, which bills itself as one of the world’s largest specialty auction houses devoted to the sale of sports cards and memorabilia, set the opening bid at $25,000. The bids came in for 16 days. The winning bidder was a private collector who asked to remain anonymous.

The woman who owned the card will keep 80% of the sale price, with 20% going to the auction house.

“This was incredibly exciting for us from start to finish,” Dwyer said. “She expected the card to be valuable but she didn’t know how valuable.” Additional information on the card can be found at bid.robertedwardauctions.com (search for “Altoona”).