Summer Premium and Catalog Auction July 31 & Aug 8
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/9/2015
Graded NM 7 by PSA. Hall of Famer, in his "Rookie Card" appearance. This collectible emanates from a segment of its issue's scarcer, "High Number" series. It's hard to believe that just one baseball card can carry so many evocative elements. But the incredibly popular Pirates outfielder pictured on its surface was, and remains, a unique and multi-faceted superstar. Idolized in real life for his humanitarian side as well as his on-field magic, it's indeed fortunate that Clemente's debut gum card represents such a masterfully designed, visually grand tribute. The '55 Topps motif - large portrait, small "action" pose, facsimile signature, dominant team logo - yields true aesthetic harmony in Clemente's entry, and the sum of its components produces a sight that never fails to gladden the heart. An enviable representative of its glorious type, the offered Clemente rookie card boasts a brightly printed obverse; the back side concedes a very minor ink smudge. When viewed horizontally, as intended, centering favors the bottom left to a slight degree, and a touch of handling wear is barely evident at the top left. (The cloying aura of this card - and its famed subject - remain undiminished after a viewer's largely fruitless examination in search of trivial discrepancies.) An important, "key" piece from the 1950s, in attractive Near Mint condition.