Pre-War Cards

The auction features nearly 500 lots of sports autographs and memorabilia

You might remember hearing about Birmingham Auctioneers last year as they were commissioned to auction off a large find of pre-war cards found in an abandoned Pennsylvania house. Their latest offering is an auction focusing on sports memorabilia and autographs. The nearly 500-lot auction is now underway and concludes next Sunday, June 23.

Collectors can click here to register for bidding in the auction.

“It’s a first for us, a sports themed auction with no cards (unless you count a nearly complete up to the 1970’s HOF Gold Plaque Postcard Set),” says Scott Russell, owner and auctioneer of Birmingham Auctioneers.

“But with the amount of pre-war publications, including an awesome 1937 Yankees scorecard with DiMaggio and Gehrig both in the lineup, I thought it was too good to pass up!”

Headlining the auction are autographed items from Muhammad Ali, Mickey Mantle, Gordie Howe, and Wilt Chamberlain. But there’s a lot more, too.

The auction also includes signed items from dozens of other Hall of Famers and legends. Some of the heavy hitters include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nolan Ryan, Stan Musial, Warren Spahn, Bobby Orr, Paul Hornung, Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Gordon, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken, and plenty of others. And while some of the autographs are on photographs, more than 120 of the signatures are on baseballs and hockey pucks.

One of the more unique items is a Garth Brooks autographed photograph while he is playing baseball with the San Diego Padres. Brooks has famously attended practice/warm-up sessions and even played some in spring training.

Collectors of early memorabilia will also find some interesting items. Among the notable older pieces are several pre-war and wartime baseball publications.

Included in the auction are several 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s “Who’s Who in Baseball” books featuring Hall of Famers Walter Johnson, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Hack Wilson, and others on covers. Additionally, collectors will find 1930s and 1940s issues of Baseball Magazine with covers including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. There are also three popular vintage decal bats featuring Ruth, Williams, and DiMaggio!

A variety of other memorabilia items including vintage programs, scorecards, ticket stubs, bobbleheads, magazines, apparel, pennants, and more are also up for grabs.

One of the best features of a Birmingham Auctioneers auction are the low starting bids. “With the highest starting bid only $25 and no reserves, the idea is everything will sell,” Russell said. “This approach stems from our long-standing live auction, which is an absolute auction. We wanted to recreate that feel online and we’ve sold Ty Cobb cards online for good money, but started them at $25.”

Established in 1983, Birmingham Auctioneers holds both online and in-person auctions. Their entire event calendar can be seen here.

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