10 Baseball Cards You Might Own That Could Be a Financial Home Run

For many of us, the mere mention of baseball cards is followed by waves of nostalgia. The cumulative process of collecting baseball cards can be a meaningful and rewarding chapter in many of our lives — especially when you realize you happened upon a card that's worth a pretty penny.

If you're someone who actually ended up keeping your cards and have them stowed away somewhere, you very well could be sitting on a literal winning lotto ticket. We took a look at 10 baseball cards in particular that are cash cows waiting to be traded in. 

Sale price: $12.6 million

A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle was listed on Heritage Auctions in July 2022 and sold in August 2022 for a whopping, record-breaking $12.6 million. Can you imagine if you found that literal shining diamond in your dust-coated attic? You're probably taking a vacation after that discovery.

Sale price: $7.2 million

What's crazy is that there are less than 10 copies of the 1914 Babe Ruth Baltimore News cards that still exist. This immediately renders the card as one of the rarest baseball cards to exist. There are both blue and red variations of this card, and as a result of the low-quality paper stock used, they usually have numerous creases and folds. So if you find one of those out in the wild, make sure you really handle it with the utmost care. There are millions at stake, after all.

Sale price: $3.94 million

Don’t worry. If you have your eyes set on acquiring a 2009 Mike Trout Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfractor Autograph 1/1 card, it’ll only cost around $4 million. Trout was a legend in the game of baseball. He had three American League MVP awards, eight Silver Slugger awards, and eight All-Star games. You might say that most players don’t ascend to such heights in their careers.

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Sale price: $1.2 million

Babe Ruth is an undeniable and unforgettable legend. This card, though, is a life-changer. You end up with one of these in your possession and you just struck gold. Babe Ruth accumulated over 30 titles for home runs, hitting percentage, and run scoring throughout his career. But we don’t need to get too hung up on those details. We can just focus on the $1.2 million.

Related: 10 of the Most Expensive Items Ever Sold on eBay

Sale price: $850,000

A theory circling the mystique of why this particular Eddie Plank card is valued as high as it is is that the manufacturer ended up destroying most of the Eddie Plank cards that existed as a result of poor printing. If poor printing translates to a card being worth $850,000, though, who is really losing in that game? Perhaps Plank’s biggest claim to fame was that he was the first left-handed pitcher to win 300 games.

Related: Sorry, but These 32 Collectibles Are Now Worthless

Sale price: $667,189

SCP Auctions ended up selling a 1909 Shoeless Joe Jackson American Caramel for $667,189. The origin story behind Joe Jackson’s nickname of “Shoeless” is that he took off his cleats during a game because his shoes were making him ferociously uncomfortable. Definitely a power move.

Related: You Won't Believe How Much These Collectibles Fetched at Auction

Sale price: $660,000

In general, when there are errors made on baseball cards, they end up diminishing the overall value of a given card. However, when it comes to the 1909 Sherry Magee T206 Error card, it’s the complete opposite. We’re talking about the error being so avidly desired that it’s valued around $660,000. The first printing mishap for this card resulted in Sherry’s last name being spelled as “Magie,” a now-coveted mistake. 

A quick fun fact about Sherry Magee is that he had a gnarly reputation for getting into notable bouts with umpires. Ironically, he ended up becoming an umpire after he had retired from baseball.

Sale price: $576,000

Even though the actual quality of the printing for this Lou Gehrig card isn’t anything to write home about, the card itself is still valued enough that people are willing to pay $576,000 for it. Gehrig will go down in history as one of the all-time greats of baseball. Back in 1925, he kickstarted an iconic streak of playing 2,130 games in a row. That is heroic fortitude if we’ve ever seen it.

Sale price: $468,000

Even though you’re not exactly going to be blown away by the quality of the printing for this highly valued and sought after Jackie Robinson card, you’re going to be floored by how much money you could get for it. We’re talking as much as $468,000. Maybe that tropical vacation is happening after all.

Sale price: $358,000 

If you’re sitting on Hank Aaron’s rookie card, you’re sitting on a big financial windfall waiting to happen. If you do indeed have this card in your possession and it’s in mint condition, you could end up being able to secure yourself as much as $358,000 at an auction. Now that’s a home run. Maybe even a grand slam.