1938 R323 Goudey "Heads-Up" Complete Low Number Series Uncut Sheet with Joe DiMaggio (24 Cards)

Sold For:

$42,000

Year:

1938

Auction:

2020 Summer

Lot #:

854

Category:

Prewar Baseball - 1930s and 1940s Cards

Complete and extremely rare 24-card production sheet of the classic 1938 R323 Goudey "Heads-Up" series (featuring the twenty-four low-number cards numbered from #241 to #264), highlighted by nine Hall of Famers including Joe DiMaggio, Jimmy Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Bob Feller, and Charlie Gehringer. 1938 Goudey sheets are particularly rare. As can easily be seen looking back at old catalogs, they are far rarer than even 1933 and 1934 Goudey sheets. In fact, this is only the second uncut 1938 Goudey sheet that we have ever presented at auction. (The first appeared as Lot #1046 in REA's Spring 2017 auction, where it realized a final sale price of $54,000.) A total of two different sheets comprise the entire 1938 set in uncut sheet form, and to the best of our knowledge, no collector has the complete set in sheets. The sheet has an Excellent overall appearance with striking colors and flawless registration. Upon close inspection, there is evidence of light creasing and surface wrinkles in several areas, which affects many of the cards, but due to its size these minor flaws (which are mentioned strictly for the sake of accuracy) have little or no impact on the sheet's extremely impressive and extraordinary display value. There are several areas of surface wear and minor paper loss on the fully printed reverse, which almost certainly relates to the sheet's storage long ago in the Goudey Gum Company archive file books (which were discovered and dispersed to the four corners of the collecting world in 1969). This is a beautiful sheet! Uncut sheets of Goudey cards are extremely rare and among the most popular and sought-after of all baseball-card sheets. The sheet measures 14-1/4 x 11-1/2 inches. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open).