Olympic Gold: Legendary Jesse Owens Commands $7k
March 05, 2008

The following story appeared on www.beckett.com on March 3, 2008

A true hobby rarity, a Jesse Owens one-of-one cut signature autograph, from 2007 Playoff National Treasures, was befittingly sold this past February for more than $7,600.

The sale of an Owens cut signature autograph was a hobby first.

Owens, the son of a sharecropper, and the grandson of slaves, became one of the most revered athletes in sports history when he broke five world records and equaled a sixth in front of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Owens has had just four total cards released to date.

  • 1962 H.F. Gardner Sports Stars PC768 *
  • 2002 Topps American Pie
  • 2005 Topps Pristine Legends Signature Marks
  • 2007 Donruss Playoff National Treasures Historical Cuts

This is the first time that Beckett Baseball has ever tracked a sale of an Owens cut signature since the 2005 Topps Pristine Legends Signature Marks issue has yet to publicly surface.

The sale, which exceeded more than $7,500, crushed the set's previous benchmark of $2,200 that was set during an early February auction for a cut signature of baseball's founder, Alexander Cartwright.

-- Kevin Haake

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