CHAMBERSBURG – Vintage sports cards and items signed by some of the greatest legends of baseball and football will be sold at a May 6 auction in Chambersburg. Included in the sale at Gateway Gallery Auction, 643 Kriner Road, will be Sixteen vintage Mickey Mantle cards, items signed by Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., former Chambersburg resident Nellie Fox, Brooks Robinson, Ralph Kiner, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and many other Hall of Famers.
A 1965 Topps baseball set – with each of the 598 cards already in a protective plastic holder – will be one of the more valuable items sold. Other premium items include a 1951 Ted Williams baseball card.
The sale of more than 700 items will begin at 10 a.m. and include single cards of baseball and football stars, sets, partial sets, autographed cards, photos, footballs, helmets and baseballs. The items are being sold for multiple collectors. For a complete listing, view www.gatewayauction.com or call 263-6512 or 1-800-315-3265 for more information. There will be an opportunity to view the items prior to the sale, both online and at the auction location. Bidding will occur in-person and online.
In addition to the 1951 Bowman rookie card, Nellie Fox items include one of his personal tobacco pipes, an autographed card accompanied by a photo taken early in his career, an autographed baseball, authenticated by PSA (the best known experts in the sports memorabilia field), a signed postcard from 1951 a Fox-model bat and glove, and vintage baseball cards from throughout his career. Born in St. Thomas in 1927, hometown hero Fox was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1997. Another local item will be a ball signed by the 1951 Franklin County American Legion All-Stars.
The oldest Mantle card to be sold will be a 1954 Bowman; the other cards featuring the New York Yankees legend will be mostly from the Topps brand. These include cards from 1957, 1958 (with Hank Aaron), 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968 and a near mint 1964 Topps Standup card. Cards of many of Mantle’s teammates are included in the sale, among them Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris and Phil Rizzuto.
While the auction includes a wide variety of items, the sale will especially appeal to fans of the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Dallas Cowboys because of the number of items related to those teams. White Sox fans not only will find many items related to Nellie Fox, but also his double-play partner Luis Aparicio – including Aparicio’s 1956 rookie card, a signed baseball and other vintage cards. Carlton Fisk and Frank Thomas – two other White Sox stars – also will be well represented in the auction.
Pirates cards include just about every Topps card in the careers of Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, as well as a large selection of items related to other Pirates players. A 1963 Fleer set includes a near mint Roberto Clemente card.
Dallas Cowboys items include autographed photos by some of the team’s biggest stars, a history of the Cowboys signed by Staubach, and hundreds of cards of Cowboys players.
Other autographed collectibles were signed by Michael Jordan, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson, Robin Roberts, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana and others.
Rare items include a book written by Babe Ruth in 1920, the year he became a New York Yankee, and a 1935 Ruth Quaker Oats pin.
Recent cards will be available, too, including many sets and uncataloged lots.
