ALTERNATIVE ASSETS
About the best thing you could have owned in these inflationary times has been sports memorabilia. Five years ago, I sold my Babe Ruth home-run bat for $600,000. One sold last month for $1,850,000. I also sold my Mickey Mantle rookie card from a Topps bubble gum package made in 1959. My example was in near-mint condition and brought $225,000. Recently a similar card brought $5.2 million at auction. A mint card brought a mind-boggling $12.6 million only last August.
A few years ago, I bought a large photograph of Marilyn Monroe, formerly owned by Joe DiMaggio. It was signed, “I Love you Joe, Marilyn.” I decided to sell it when the Federal Reserve declared it would be raising interest rates. It sold last November for $300,000; $240,000 to me and $60,000 to the auction house. In May, Heritage Auctions in Dallas will sell my concert posters for “The Beatles at Shea Stadium.” Only a few copies of this important concert poster exist and the last one sold for $275,000, so I’m hopeful for a record price for this poster.
