This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/19/2012
When his rookie card was issued in 1954, no one could have imagined the tremendous impact Hank Aaron would have on the game of baseball. Born into humble circumstances on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, Henry Louis 'Hank' Aaron ascended the ranks of the Negro Leagues to become a major league baseball icon. Aaron played 23 years as an outfielder for the Milwaukee (later Atlanta) Braves and Milwaukee Brewers, during which time he broke many of baseball's most distinguished records, including being crowned baseball’s all-time Home Run King, a crown he wore nobly for more than two decades. Sheer ability, consistency and resilience were the earmarks of Hank Aaron's prolific career. For 20 consecutive seasons he totaled more than 20 home runs; 15 times topping the 30 homer mark, and eight times he walloped 40 or more home runs. As Aaron biographer Lonnie Wheeler wrote, "(Hank) Aaron's excellence was not expelled in blinding bursts of energy, but rather played out, patiently and inexorably, over a whole generation." Only through the passing of three decades has most of America come to gradually understand and appreciate the heroism and character of Hank Aaron, a class player who refused to preen at home plate or strut shamelessly around the bases, even as he reached the pinnacle of our National pastime.
Presented here a peerless and brilliant example of one of the most immediately recognizable and widely cherished rookie cards on earth. One of only two PSA graded GEM MT 10 examples of Hank Aaron’s 1954 Topps rookie card, it is an object of elite importance in the field of card collecting and one of the crown jewels of the Dmitri Young Collection. Exhibiting an extraordinary depth of color, the card stands as a beacon of Topps utmost potential to flawlessly harmonize every element of production. The centered composition of graphics is finished with perfect gloss and surrounded by faultless edges and corners. The presentation of this GEM MINT 10 masterpiece at auction represents a once-in-a-lifetime collecting opportunity.