This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/27/2010
A true modern masterpiece of the very highest order, offered next is one of the hobby's finest two examples of Derek Sanderson Jeter's notorious 1992 Little Sun High School Autograph rookie issue. Infamously condition sensitive and, unfortunately, infamously counterfeited as well, only 2 examples have ever risen to the improbable heights of BGS 9.5 GEM MINT condition from a rather sizable submission pool of 55 of the 250 total examples handled and signed by the 18 year-old high school prospect and then randomly inserted into factory sets. In one of the biggest modern day baseball card cons of the last decade, it is common knowledge among high-end Jeter collectors that an unscrupulous former dealer at the center of the hobby had amassed several of the approximately 200 unsigned "proof" examples originally distributed to players and employees, and not only did he forge several and sell them on eBay, but, because of the rarity of the issue and its lack of handy exemplars, he also managed to grade several with PSA, entirely ruining the PSA population report for the issue, which shows 6 examples graded MINT 9 and 3 graded GEM MINT 10 from 22 submissions. Furthermore, the fact that the PSA population report does not differentiate those originally blank PSA/DNA proof examples signed by Jeter any time after the original signing further skews PSA's data, which is just another reason why PSA won't even grade the issue anymore and why virtually all legitimate, unaltered copies now go exclusively to Beckett. Rest assured, however, that the counterfeits, when directly compared to the real thing, are rather easy to discern, with some of the top dealers in the country noting that even grade-schoolers could probably identify the real deal. Interested bidders should find even greater solace in the fact that, as a result of these unfortunate forgeries, the offered example has been authenticated not just by the modern card pros at BGS but by the autograph specialists at James Spence Authentication as well, or JSA, arguably the most respected name in autograph authentication in the entire hobby. A final note about the perplexing autograph grade: as any reasonable person can clearly observe in even our super-sized scan online, the autograph appears to border of MINT "9" to even GEM MINT "10" perfection, but it has been ridiculously downgraded by the BGS grading team, due, so our consignor was told, to a few microscopic streaks in the cursive "J" and "t" of Jeter where the black ink didn't fully take to the card's ultra glossy surface. Not that it matters much compared to the unheard of GEM MINT 9.5 grade for the card itself, but if you compare this mysterious "7" script to almost any other early rookie era Jeter signature already graded "9" or even "10" by BGS with JSA, you'll quickly understand why we think this one, above all others, deserves to rate so much higher. As one of the single finest Derek Jeter rookie cards in existence, we only think it appropriate. After all, even a century from now, there probably won't exist more than a couple additional examples in the BGS 9.5 GEM MINT class, if any at all, and chances are that their signatures won't be nearly as fine as the glorious script so eloquently penned here. Do your own homework, and examine any of the dozens of other exemplars available in cyberspace, and we known you'll agree! In closing, with fewer than 100 hits needed to reach the immortal 3,000 milestone, at age 36 Derek currently has more career base knocks than Pete Rose at the same age, and if there is one card to own when Mr. November pursues 3,000 next season (and then who knows how many after that?) . . . if there is one single Derek Jeter rookie card that will stand the test of time and prove its scarcity and condition sensitivity against virtually every other Derek Jeter rookie card ever made, this is it!