Extremely Rare 1889 N173 Old Judge Cabinet Ed Delahanty Rookie - SGC

Sold For:

$56,400

Year:

1889

Auction:

2024 Summer

Lot #:

91

Category:

Pre-1900 Baseball Cards (1830-1899)

Extremely rare and desirable 1889 N173 Old Judge cabinet card of Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty (#123-1 pose) dating from his playing days as a second baseman with the Philadelphia Quakers. Delahanty is one of the rarest of all N173 Old Judge Hall of Famers. It is interesting to note that this is the first N173 of Delahanty that we have ever handled and just the second to be offered at public auction in the past 20 years (to the best of our knowledge). Only three N173 Delahanty cards have been evaluated by SGC; the offered pose, a batting pose, and the third we have not seen. While this card features Delahanty with the Philadelphia Quakers in his second year in the majors, it is the first of his few baseball cards ever issued, and as such is recognized as Delahanty's rookie card. There are very few baseball cards of Delahanty due to his untimely and tragic death in 1903 and the fact that few baseball card sets were issued during the years in which he played (1888 to 1903). Delahanty was one of the premier stars of the nineteenth century. The actual mounted photograph displays a superb image with just some minor staining and a tack hole at the top. The blank reverse reveals light soiling. This particular example is encapsulated as Authentic by SGC due to being trimmed along the bottom (advertisement cut off). Despite these faults, this is still a very attractive card of one of the key nineteenth-century and N173 Old Judge Hall of Famer rarities. Opening Bid $10,000.