1951 Bowman in PSA 8.5 Fetches $390,000
Say Hey, Willie Mays is still setting records.
A 1951 Bowman PSA 8.5 Willie Mays sold on Sunday night for $390,365 through Robert Edward Auctions. The price is a record for a Mays rookie in any grade.
The 8.5 grade is a pop one with only eight examples — all in 9s — graded higher by PSA.
Mays, who passed away on June 18, hadn’t had a rookie card graded that high sell at auction in 15 years.
A couple other vintage cards achieved record prices during Robert Edward Auctions’ summer auction. A 1933 Goudey Napoleon Lajoie in a PSA 4.5 sold for $162,000, a record for that grade. Also, a signed 1949 Bowman Roy Campanella in a PSA 3 and a 9 signature brought in $132,000. PSA has only graded two examples.
The highlight in the auction on the basketball side was a signed 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie in a PSA 7 for the card and autograph. That sold for $120,000.
“This was a very exciting auction across the board and we’re pleased with the countless new record prices that were established in so many different areas of the hobby,” said Brian Dwyer, President of REA. “As always, we owe a huge thank you to the consignors who entrust us with these incredible items, and the bidders who made this yet another record-setting catalog auction for us.”
