: MastroNet broke a previous multi-consignment auction sales record
the gallery set in April 2004 by more than $800,000 with a
phone/Internet event closing mid-August and generating more than
$12.4 million.
Gallery representatives predicted that the stars of this auction
would be a Roger Maris #61 jersey, the Richard Egan collection,
certain Revolutionary War pieces and items related to Houdini.
Roger Maris's #61 jersey, which he wore when he hit his historic
home run #61 in 1961, sold for $302,000. This price not only
makes it the most valuable non-Hall of Fame jersey in existence,
it is in the top five jerseys of all time. The jersey was
recently discovered in a collection where it had resided for more
than 40 years.
A 1951 Bowman uncut sheet with three Hall of Famers - Mickey
Mantle, Bucky Harris and Frank Frisch - had a rookie Mantle card
that caught the fancy of serious bidders. The final price tag for
the sheet was $134,522. A 1909-11 T206 white border graded set
minus the Big Three - Magie, Wagner and Plank - roared to
$109,639. And a 1954 Topps #128 Henry Aaron rookie - PSA Gem Mint
10 - commanded $90,199.
Ty Cobb was not known to have many friends, but those he did have
he rewarded handsomely. In 1925, Cobb gave fellow Hall of Famer
Joe Sewell a bat featuring Cobb's signature taping and unique
wood treatment process involving "chew." The bat sold for
$74,918.
"Washington Crossing the Delaware," Edward A. Howell, $60,375.
The 1972 painting "Snake Bit" by Frank Frazetta was
originally created as a promotional piece for The Spurs: The
Western Writers of America Book Club. The club never published
the work, probably due to the cover's female's nudity - a forbidden
element for a Western book cover. The painting sold for $70.563.
A 1909-1911 T206 white border partial set sold for $63,823, while
a 1909-11 T206 white border Honus Wagner showed that the supply
of these cards will never meet the demand when it was snatched up
after aggressive bidding resulted in a final price tag of
$62,338. A high-grade 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle card went for
$62,338.
Rounding out the sale's top ten, Edward A. Howell's "Washington
Crossing the Delaware," an original oil painting measuring 6 by
31/2 feet, sold for $60,375.
