Babe Ruth Cards

Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sport  Baseball  Babe Ruth  Sport cards

1914 Baltimore News

1
red, VG3 by NGC
​2023 SOLD for $ 7.2M by Robert Edward

In early 1914 George Ruth has not even reached his majority when the manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the so called International League appreciates his skills and offers him a first contract.  He is 19 years old. His fellows nickname him Jack Dunn's Baby. From then and forever he will be the Babe. He makes his first professional appearance on March 7.

Jack Dunn was arguably a good businessman : as early as July 4 he transferred George to a major league club. Ruth makes his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox on July 11.

​During this short period, the local publisher Baltimore News had time to publish a  baseball card  of "Ruth, pitcher". The back announces the schedule from April 21 to September 26. This  rudimentary monochrome print is available in two variants, red and blue, in a large size 67 x 92 mm. The large borders and the paper stock are not conducive for a good preservation.

Ten copies are known. A blue card is graded VG-EX 4 by PSA.

A red copy with a provenance from the heirs of the original owner had been on loan from 1998 at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore. With some creasing and some corner rounding, it is graded VG 3 by SGC. It was sold for $ 7.2M by Robert Edward on December 3, 2023, lot 1 illustrated in the pre sale release shared by Sports Collector Digest. It was sold for $ 4M by Heritage on October 24, 2025, lot 50080. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

Another red example, in poor condition, graded PR 1 by PSA, was sold for $ 450K by Robert Edward on May 18, 2013, lot 1. It is illustrated in the pre sale release shared by AuctionPublicity.

Grok thoughts to both auctions :

Quote
REA @collect_rea Nov 6, 2023
One of the world’s rarest baseball cards - the 1914 Baltimore News #BabeRuth Rookie - is coming to REA's Fall Auction beginning Nov 17. One of only 10 examples in existence, it's expected to sell for upwards of $10 million or more! https://buff.ly/3MvjfzA #thehobby

  • The 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card, one of only 10 known examples, highlights a rare piece of sports history from Ruth’s early career with the Baltimore Orioles, predating his legendary tenure with the Yankees, and its expected $10 million+ value is driven by surging demand in the collectibles market as noted in a 2023 ESPN report.
  • This card’s preservation, graded a 3 by SGC, owes much to its storage in a museum for over 20 years, a fact supported by Robert Edward Auctions’ president Brian Dwyer, who noted its condition defied the typical wear of century-old memorabilia, challenging the narrative that such items degrade uniformly without special care.
  • The auction, set for November 17, 2023, by REA, coincides with a historical parallel: 100 years earlier on May 8, 1914, Ruth pitched a victory against the Buffalo Bisons, as documented by the Buffalo Evening News, underscoring his early prowess and the card’s cultural significance in baseball’s evolving legacy.

​Quote
Heritage Auctions Sports @Heritage_Sport
Babe Ruth’s earliest card will find a new home this month Just 10 examples of Babe Ruth’s 1914 Baltimore News rookie card are known, and only one has graded higher than this SGC VG 3 https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-cards/singles-pre-1930-/1914-baltimore-news-babe-ruth-rookie-sgc-vg-3-only-one-superior-in-any-population-/a/50080-80492.s?Type=social-sports-twitter-1914Ruth-100225…

  • Heritage Auctions promotes a 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card, one of only 10 known examples, graded SGC VG 3—the second-highest grade after a single PSA VG-EX 4.
  • Previously sold for $7.2 million at Robert Edward Auctions in December 2023 with Babe Ruth Museum provenance, it headlines Heritage's October 24-26, 2025, Fall Sports Catalog Auction with an estimate of $7 million or higher.
  • The accompanying 4.6-second video rotates the slabbed card on a Heritage display stand, underscoring its rarity as Ruth's first card from his minor league Baltimore Orioles tenure.

1 bis
for reference
​blue, VG-EX4 by PSA

shared by PSA cards through Wikimedia.
1914 Babe Ruth baseball card

1916 MLB rookie
​Intro

The earliest trading card displaying "Ruth - pitcher" is a poor quality monochrome local edition by the Baltimore News. Ruth left Baltimore in July 1914 to make his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox.

The MLB rookie card of the future super-champion, published in 1916, is much more satisfactory. He was caught in action, watching where is the ball which he just threw. He has not yet retrieved his balance and the slightly angled view makes him appear slimmer than life. The monochrome sepia print is very neat. He is already identified by his famous nickname 'Babe Ruth'.

Who produced this legendary image ? Original inscriptions are absent, which is often the case when the publisher's main clients are companies that use the back side for their advertising. The Sporting News is not the editor but one of such advertisers, like the Standard Biscuit Company. The real author appears to be a Chicago photographer named Felix Mendelsohn, almost a namesake of the musician.

The American Card Catalog, which defined the denominations of all series in 1939, did a commendable job but without resolving such ambiguities. So Babe Ruth's rookie card is in the M101-4 and M101-5 series with a Sporting News or blank back and D350 with a Standard Biscuit back.

The three series have about 200 positions each. For the 30 players identified with the same position number, it is impossible to know if a card belongs to M101-4 or -5. The Ruth card has the number 151 in all three. M101-5 may be earlier than M101-4.

Still worse : the denomination M101, from -1 to -7, gathers alongside -4 and -5 Sporting News supplements and postcards plus photos later published under an FM copyright, although no other joint operation between the magazine and Mendelsohn is known.

1
​blank back NM7 by PSA
2021 SOLD for $ 2.4M by Mile High Card

An M101-4-151 with blank back rated NM 7 by PSA was sold for $ 2.4M on November 11, 2021 by Mile High Card, lot 1.

An M101-5-151 with blank back also rated NM 7 by PSA was sold for $ 720K by Heritage on August 27, 2016, lot 80001.

2
​blank back NM7 by PSA
​2025 SOLD for $ 1.37M by Heritage

From the population of 2 ​M101-4-151 with blank back graded NM 7 by PSA, a card has been sold for $ 2.4M on November 11, 2021 by Mile High Card, lot 1. See above. The other example was sold for $ 1.37M by Heritage in February 22, 2025, lot 80009.

Pre sale response by Grok :

​Quote
Heritage Auctions Sports @Heritage_Sport Feb 6
The most underrated card in The Hobby? It doesn't get the coverage Wagner's T206 or Mantle's 1952 Topps do but there's no doubting the importance of Babe Ruth's 1916 Sporting News rookie And there's no finer example, this NM 7 is a pop two, none higher https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-cards/singles-pre-1930-/1916-m101-4-sporting-news-babe-ruth-blank-back-rookie-151-psa-nm-7/a/50075-80009.s?Type=social-sports-twitter-RuthRookie-020625…

  • The 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card, highlighted in the post, is a rare artifact from a set produced by Felix Mendelssohn, with only 152 graded by PSA, making its NM 7 grade (one of two, with none higher) a significant find in the collectibles market, where a similar card sold for $1.37 million earlier in 2025.
  • Unlike the more famous T206 Honus Wagner card, which ceased production due to Wagner’s objection to tobacco advertising (with only 50-200 copies estimated), Ruth’s card benefited from customized distribution by businesses like Herpolsheimer’s, a Michigan clothing store, explaining its relative scarcity and value despite lower initial publicity.
  • Historical data from sports memorabilia auctions shows a surge in baseball card prices since 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic driving demand, as noted in a 2021 Cardboard Connection report, suggesting the Ruth card’s value could exceed predictions given its pristine condition and cultural significance.

​3
​Sporting News NM 7 by SGC
​2023 SOLD for $ 1.77M by Heritage

An M101-4-151 Babe Ruth rookie card with a Sporting News back has been graded NM 7 by SGC. Its centering is better than usual for this edition.

It was sold for $ 1.77M by Heritage on February 25, 2023, lot 80012. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

4
​Sporting News EX-MT6 by PSA
2022 SOLD for $ 1.5M by Goldin

An M101-4-151 with The Sporting News back, graded EX-MT 6 by PSA, was sold for $ 940K by Memory Lane on March 20, 2021, lot 1, and for $ 1.5M by Goldin on April 30, 2022, lot 5.

This card is perfectly centered with sharp corners. A small stain in a corner prevented a higher level. It is bested in PSA database by one NM-MT8 and one NM7.

5
​​Sporting News EX-MT 6 by PSA
2021 SOLD for $ 1.45M by Memory Lane

The Ruth rookie card from the Newman collection has a Sporting News back. Graded EX-MT 6 by PSA, it is one of 4 in that grade with 2 higher. It was sold for $ 1.45M by Memory Lane on July 10, 2021, lot 3.

A newly discovered M101/ 4 or /5 rookie card of Babe Ruth with an advertisement back by Morehouse Baking Co of Lawrence, Mass was sold for $ 810K by Robert Edward on December 8, 2024, lot 1. It has been graded VG+ 3.5 by PSA. It is crisp and clean, with a better than usual centering. The reverse is stamped Cancelled after a redemption as part of the promotion advertised on the reverse. Only 53 Morehouse Baking examples have been graded by PSA plus 57 by SGC, all players included.

6
​Herpolsheimer back NM7 by PSA
​2025 SOLD for $ 1.4M by Heritage

A few M101-4 card have a back reading simply Herpolsheimer Co. / Boys' Fashion Shop / Grand Rapids Mich.

No information surfaced about that advertiser. PSA knows 152 examples which is lesser than the 200 positions that make the basic series. They include 5 Number 151 featuring Babe Ruth P(itcher) Boston Red Sox.

The finest of these 5 is graded NM7. The preservation is perfect. The grade has been limited by a poor centering. It was sold for $ 1.4M by Heritage on August 23, 2025, lot 80011.

1933 Goudey
​Intro

Inserted in cigarette or tobacco packs, the baseball card falls into disuse during World War I. Some manufacturers of caramel or chocolate candies barely maintain this tradition. Lovers of images prefer postcards.

Goudey Gum Company is a leader in the chewing gum market. The founder of the company retires in 1932. In 1933 the new management includes silkscreen printed cards in the gum packs. The drawing executed from a photograph is simple and the colors are bright. The back includes in full format a short descriptive text beside the identification of the publisher, which was much more attractive at that place than on a postcard.

The most important series is devoted entirely to baseball players under the title of Big League Chewing Gum. Its 240 images are published by Goudey in Boston. 94 of them are renumbered and published in Montreal by World Wide Gum Company which was the Goudey branch in Canada.

The editions released in the same year include a multi-sport series of 48 cards for the Sport Kings chewing gum, 216 Indian views for the Indian chewing gum and two other series of 48 cards : Boy Scouts and Sea Raiders.

The Goudey Big League series, inserted in 1933 and 1934 in the Gum wax packs of that brand, brings a quality glow within the decadence of the 1930s trading cards, in competition with postcards. It is made of 240 positions including four Babe Ruth at position numbers 53, 144, 149, 181. Number 181 is a close-up portrait on which the leaning champion carefully observes an action out of the field of view. This picture is not included in the other series.

In order for young collectors to continue buying the gum, the number 106 of the 1933 series was originally not used. The deception has been discovered. In the following year Goudey created a 1933-106 to provide it to angry fans. This card with the effigy of retired champion Napoleon Lajoie is the rarest in the series and no copy was stained by gum. A 1933-106 graded Mint 9 by PSA was sold for $ 230K by Goldin on October 1, 2016.

​A sale dedicated to 1933 Goudey by Heritage on January 24, 2019 highlighted three cards graded Mint 9 by PSA : a Gehrig sold for $ 580K and two Ruth for $ 530K (# 144) and $ 460K (# 181). Two years before, a VG-EX 4 Goudey-Ruth cards did not exceed $ 15K and signed cards were of interest only to specialist collectors.

1
​# 53 Mint 9 by PSA
2021 SOLD for $ 4.2M by Memory Lane

The star lot of the collection of the late Thomas Newman was a 1933 Goudey # 53 featuring Ruth with bat on shoulder and yellow background. It was sold for $ 4.2M by Memory Lane on July 10, 2021, lot 1. It is the only card of this position graded Mint 9 by PSA with none higher and none equal or higher by SGC.

A 1933 Goudey card # 53 featuring Babe Ruth on a yellow background was sold for $ 940K by Memory Lane on May 21, 2022, lot 1. It is one of 14 units graded NM-MT 8 by PSA. 

Its visual brilliance like pack fresh is considered by Memory Lane as better than ​the Newman example having the only higher grade granted by PSA on this variety, narrated above.

2
# 144 NM-MT+ 8.5 by PSA
2023 SOLD for $ 1.07M by Heritage

A 1933 Goudey # 144 graded NM- MT+ 8.5  by PSA was sold for $ 1.07M by Heritage on August 19, 2023, lot 80018.

3
# 181 Mint 9 by PSA
​2021 SOLD for $ 1.27M by Memory Lane

The PSA graded population of the 1933 Goudey # 181 featuring Ruth with resting elbow and green background includes a single Gem Mint 10 and a total of six Mint 9. 

Also graded Mint 9 by PSA, the example from the Newman collection was sold for $ 1.27M by Memory Lane on July 10, 2021, lot 2.

On August 2, 2018, Goldin sold for $ 320K as lot 21 a copy of the Goudey 1933-181 graded Mint 9 by PSA, very rare in this condition with perfect centering, very fresh colors, very clean edges and the four corners intact. Another Mint 9 example was sold for $ 460K by Heritage on January 24, 2019, lot 50181.