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1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy Babe Ruth (Blank Back) #147 SGC EX 5 - Pop Two, One Superior!...
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Sold on Jan 30, 2026 for:
$237,900.00
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Description
1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy Babe Ruth (Blank Back) #147 SGC EX 5 - Pop Two, One Superior! Heritage has recorded several six-figure prices for the various incarnations of the #151 card of the 1916 Babe Ruth rookie, and even a $1.77M result for an M101-4 Sporting News beauty achieved in February 2023. It's a card that properly holds sway as one of the Dead Ball Era's most coveted and valuable, a function of both the enormous significance of its subject and the razor-thin population surviving the century since its production.The offered trading card, issued just a year later, makes that 1916 rookie issue seem downright common by comparison, with this one being the only blank-backed specimen in the SGC population. The aesthetics of this card and the Ruth rookie share a number of similarities, notably the typeface and formatting of the text in the lower border. We also suspect that the image selected for this card derives from the same photo shoot that provided the rookie image.
But sharp eyes will notice that this card trends more heavily to the latter in the height/width ratio and features a high-gloss obverse that was quite groundbreaking for the era. The thin stock utilized for these cards added another layer of complexity in locating high-grade examples beyond the more instantly apparent challenges of a century's passage and the issue's regional distribution.
Minimal corner wear is the main factor halting an even steeper climb up the grading ladder, as this card is otherwise virtually unchanged from the infancy of the Babe's professional career. Graded SGC EX 5.
Auction Info
2026 January 30 - 31 Winter Sports Card Catalog Auction #50082 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
January, 2026
30th-31st
Friday-Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 41
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,959
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
22% of the successful bid per lot.
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