Family finds grandpa's 7 vintage baseball cards worth $1 million. Then, they found another treasure

Attics and basements have become treasure troves ever since rare items from vintage toys to coins minted for a limited time started fetching big bucks at auctions. In another instance of a million-dollar discovery inside the attic, an Ohio family discovered a rare pack of century-old baseball cards. The seven cards lay hidden in an abandoned home of a rural Southern town for years before the family found the seven "Ty Cobb" baseball cards printed between 1909 and 1911 in 2016. To make the story more incredible, they found another matching set two years later, according to the Associated Press.

Can't Make This up

The family made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of sports collectibles while cleaning out their late great-grandfather’s house. The first set of seven cards was found in a paper bag that was about to be tossed into the trash, just when one of the family members decided to take a look inside.

They found seven small, identical, rectangular cards, yellowed with age but well preserved. The cards had the image of a baseball player emblazoned with an elaborate “D.” On the back, it carried the description, “Ty Cobb — King of the Smoking Tobacco World.” The famed Detroit Tigers slugger was a popular figure in baseball and he was hitting the prime of his career between 1909 and 1911, when the cards were printed. The cards, which are part of a lot called the "T206," have only 24 known copies featuring the player. This made the set the holy grail for collectors and sports enthusiasts.

The discovery dubbed the “Lucky Seven Find” was marked as “one of the greatest discoveries in the history of our hobby,” as Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) president Joe Orlando told the Associated Press. The professional sports memorabilia authenticator estimated that each of the “T206 Ty Cobb” cards was worth at least $150,000, putting the total full value of the find somewhere above $1 million. This was because the cards were incredibly well-preserved and ranged from 3.5 to 4.5 on a scale of 10. According to Orlando, that was almost unheard of for cards that are more than 100 years old.

The great-grandfather had no idea of what he had left for his family and Orlando shared that he wasn't even a collector of the cards and just happened to hold on to the ones he got after buying tobacco. 

Getting Lucky Again

After the shocking discovery, the family stopped their clean up at the old house, Orlando shared in a 2018 report. When they got back at it, they knew what to look for and ended up finding the eighth card of the lot in an old "dusty box between two books." Orlando said that the excitement surrounding the cards, the possibility of finding more cards, and the incredible circumstances that led to the discovery, have increased their value. 

Hence, the new card was valued at a whopping $250,000, but the family from the rural South, who chose to remain anonymous, decided to hold onto the eighth card as a memento.