Lot # 19: 1948 Uncatalogued Kaoru Betto (HOF) Rookie Bromide Card Unknown Until Now

Category: Baseball Cards

Starting Bid: $100.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Auction 65 Ended 3/18/2023",
which ran from 2/27/2023 5:00 PM to
3/18/2023 11:00 PM



This Kaoru Betto card was unknown to the collecting public until December 2022.  From the prize sheet residue that appears on the card’s blank back, we know that the card was originally attached to a display sheet, most likely as a 3rd prize winner.  In the card’s close-up portrait, Betto is shown wearing a cap used only during the 1948 season by the Hanshin Tigers, Betto’s first team.  Therefore, we proclaim this card to be one of Betto’s rarest rookie cards, if not the rarest. 

The bespectacled superstar joined Japan Pro Baseball at the age of 27, but he made up for lost time by batting .326 and being named to the first of six consecutive league Best 9 teams.

 The winning bidder will own one of only two known copies of this special card of one of Japan Pro Baseball’s immortals.

Size:  2 3/16” x 3 3/32”

Condition:  Would be Vg to Vg/Ex, but the number 22 has been inscribed on the blank back by a previous owner.

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