Rare Ruth/Gehrig Baseball and Josh Gibson Photo Sells

A baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig recently sold for $98,600 – double the previous mark for a similar ball – by Robert Edwards Auctions. According to the auction house, the ball is the finest example that grading service PSA has ever seen.

Like most Ruth memorabilia on the auction block, there is a story behind the autographed baseball. A letter of provenance accompanying the ball states that Ruth gave the ball to a priest he befriended at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, the orphanage that raised the Bambino as a child.

A rare Negro League photo signed twice by Josh Gibson sold for $81,200 at the same auction, which grossed a Robert Edwards Auctions record of $7.5 million. The postcard is believed to be the only one of its kind in existence and may bear the only Gibson autograph on a Gibson photo known to exist. According to Robert Edwards, the price is an all-time high for a Gibson signed item and a world record for a postcard.