1955 Topps Roberto Clemente #164

Roberto Clemente's rookie card is #164 in the 1955 Topps set. PSA's CardFacts essay says no other Clemente card can match it for demand, and that it is clearly harder to find in PSA NM-MT 8 or better than the Sandy Koufax rookie from the same set. PSA has graded about 7,900 copies; one is a GEM MT 10 and 11 are MINT 9. The highest public price on PSA's sales list is $1,107,000 for a PSA 9 at Goldin in March 2021. This file covers the set, Clemente's first season, the card's population and the sales on the public record.

The card and the set

PSA's set profile describes 1955 Topps as 206 cards measuring 2-5/8" by 3-3/4". It is numerically the smallest Topps issue: the set was planned at 210 cards, but #175, #186, #203 and #209 were never produced. It was the first Topps set to use a horizontal format for every card, a change Bowman happened to make the same year. Topps kept its two-image design, with a portrait and an action illustration on every card sharing space with a colorful team logo. The rookie class includes Clemente, Harmon Killebrew and Koufax; Mickey Mantle, Bob Feller and Whitey Ford are missing because they were under other card contracts.

The card number matters. Cards #161–210 are the high numbers, and PSA says they are harder to find because they had to compete with the fall release of football cards; #151–160 are somewhat scarce too. PSA calls Clemente “a scarce High Number.” T206Cards.com adds that retailers cut their orders for the late series, so fewer were printed, and lists Clemente among the high-number stars (with Mays, Berra, Rizzuto, Hodges and Snider) that are tougher than low-number stars such as Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron.

Clemente in 1955

Clemente was born August 18, 1934, in Carolina, Puerto Rico (Hall of Fame). He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers on February 19, 1954, for a reported $10,000 bonus. Under the bonus rule of the time, a player signed for more than $4,000 had to stay on the major-league roster for two years, so Brooklyn sent him to Triple-A Montreal instead, where he hit .257 in 87 games. That left him exposed to the November 1954 draft, and Pittsburgh, which had the worst record in the majors, took him with the first pick (SABR).

He debuted on April 17, 1955, starting in right field against the Dodgers at Forbes Field, and hit .255 in 124 games as a rookie (SABR). He wore No. 13 for his first weeks before switching to the No. 21 he kept for the rest of his career (Wikipedia). Over 18 seasons, all with the Pirates, he hit .317 with exactly 3,000 hits, won four batting titles, 12 Gold Gloves and the 1966 NL MVP award, made 15 All-Star selections and won the World Series in 1960 and 1971 (Hall of Fame). His 3,000th hit, a double off the Mets' Jon Matlack, came on September 30, 1972 (Wikipedia).

On December 31, 1972, he died when a relief flight carrying aid for earthquake victims in Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from San Juan. The Hall of Fame waived its five-year waiting period, and he was elected in a special election on March 20, 1973 (Hall of Fame), with 393 of 424 votes (Wikipedia). He was the first Latin American player inducted (SABR).

Why high grades are rare

REA's description of the PSA 9 it sold in 2023 says centering is “so often a serious problem for Clemente rookies,” and singled out that copy's near-perfect centering, sharp corners and clean reverse. Heritage's 2018 PSA 9 was sold on its “flawless centering,” and REA's 2024 PSA 8 on outstanding registration, four strong corners and no print lines. Check those points on any copy, along with the qualifiers on the label. To measure borders, use the centering calculator; for the terms, see the card condition glossary.

Card outline (circled numbers):

1. Horizontal format: 1955 was the first Topps set printed sideways for every card in the run; Bowman made the same change that year (PSA set profile).
2. Portrait: every player gets a portrait (PSA). Left blank here; no card art is drawn.
3. Action illustration: the second image of the two-image design (PSA).
4. Team logo: a colorful team logo shares the space with the two pictures (PSA). Shown as an empty circle.
5. Facsimile autograph: REA's description of a signed copy places Clemente's real signature above the printed facsimile. The squiggle is generic, not a signature.
6. Centering: REA calls centering “so often a serious problem” for this card (exaggerated here: wider left border than right).
7. 1954 Topps for comparison: the same 2-5/8 × 3-3/4 in card stood upright the year before; see the 1954 Topps Aaron file.

PSA 9 sales chart (numbered rows):

1. July 31, 2015 — Heritage, Platinum Night, lot 80017: $310,700 (cert 06012326).
2. Feb. 21, 2016 — Heritage, Platinum Night, lot 80113: $478,000 (cert 02021269).
3. Nov. 5, 2016 — Goldin, Great American Trading Card Auction, lot 29: $468,000 (cert 50003967).
4. July 20, 2018 — Heritage, Summer Sports Card Catalog Auction, lot 50469: $264,000 (cert 06011209).
5. Mar. 7, 2021 — Goldin, Winter Auction 2021, lot 3: $1,107,000 (cert 02021269, the 2016 card).
6. Sept. 2022 — PWCC Marketplace, Premier Auction: $1,050,000 on 60 bids (per Sports Collectors Digest; cert not given).
7. June 14, 2023 — Goldin 100: Part 1, lot 5: $792,000 (cert 02021269 again).
8. June 18, 2023 — Robert Edward Auctions, Spring 2023, lot 6: $960,000 (cert 05023070).

Population snapshot

PSA's condition census lists the single GEM MT 10 under the name “Dmitri Young Collection,” followed by the 11 MINT 9s. Adding the 186 Authentic slabs to the 7,713 graded above them gives about 7,900 copies in PSA holders. Reported totals have grown fast: 2,860 submitted when the PSA 10 sold in 2012 (Paul Fraser Collectibles), 6,464 in REA's spring 2023 lot text, and more than 7,000 in the Fanatics Collect / Sotheby's catalog of September 2024. Sports Collectors Digest gave 4,735 in September 2022, which does not fit that sequence; counting methods differ. T206Cards.com's June 26, 2026 snapshot shows 2,929 copies in SGC holders, none graded 10 and two graded 9. For how to read these numbers, see the population report guide.

The comparison bears out PSA's essay: Koufax has more than twice as many copies at PSA 8 and 9, on a larger graded base. PSA's price guide on the two CardFacts pages listed $928,800 for a Clemente MINT 9 against $376,500 for a Koufax MINT 9 on October 21, 2026; those are guide values, not sales.

Notable public sales

Repeat sales show the price path. Cert 02021269 brought $478,000 at Heritage in 2016, $1,107,000 at Goldin in 2021 and $792,000 at Goldin in 2023. PSA 8.5 cert 09171480 sold for $8,963 in 2009, $72,000 in 2018, $111,000 in 2020, $210,000 in February 2021, $135,300 two months later and $174,000 in 2022. The REA 2023 copy, cert 05023070, was offered again by Fanatics Collect and Sotheby's in September 2024 as lot 6; the result is not public without a login. Heritage's Intelligent Collector also reports a private sale of a PSA 9 at $1.15 million, without a date on the page; private sales are not in PSA's list. On why prices differ by venue and premium, see how card auctions work.

Checking a copy

• Verify the cert number on the grader's own site (how) and check the holder against the fake-slab guide.
• Look for qualifiers. PSA's sales list shows a PSA 9 (OC) at $11,700 (Heritage, 2020) and PSA 8 (OC) copies at $1,367 to $11,900, far below unqualified grades.
• Measure centering front and back; it is the flaw the auction descriptions single out for this card.
• Signed copies are scarce: REA's 2020 lot of a PSA/DNA-authenticated signed rookie cited 12 signed examples in PSA's population report. See autograph authentication.
• Compare grade, qualifier, date and venue, not just the price.