This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/11/2020
A Swedish issue that flew under the radar of card collectors for decades but has now become one of the most intriguing boxing cards in the hobby, the 1960 Cassius Clay card from the Hemmets Journal has risen to prominence as Muhammad Ali's true "rookie card." Part of a four-panel series, along with Wilma Rudolph, Swedish racewalker John Ljunggren and Danish soccer star Harald Nielsen, the page depicts the future Muhammad Ali as an Olympian in a journal intended to be viewed by attendees of the 1960 Olympics. Only 18-years old at the time, Clay would become the most significant figure to participate in the 1960 Rome event and one of the largest cult of personality sports celebrities in American history. Carefully and thoughtfully hand-cut from the page, this debut card has received a grade of MINT 8.5 by PSA. Clean NM/MT to MINT corners and an amazing display of color and depth has this beauty looking virtually identical to the few higher graded examples on record but can likely be had for a significant discount over those. The centering is astute, and while the top border is smaller than the sides, this is not a centering bias but rather exactly how the card was manufactured, as you can see by the width of the bottom border. Examples graded a half-point higher have commanded five-digit premiums to this example, and frankly, we don't see any difference in condition. For boxing card collectors, consider this the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle of the squared circle!