ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

'Antiques Roadshow' guest lost for words after expert reveals her baseball cards are worth 7-figures

The cards were placed on a board with notes handwritten by some of the players in them.
PUBLISHED DEC 2, 2024
The woman who brought baseball card collection in screenshots from the show (Cover image source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow)
The woman who brought baseball card collection in screenshots from the show (Cover image source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow)

While most think property, shares, or jewels are valuable things to inherit, sometimes the simplest things end up being the most precious. A guest who appeared on PBS "Antiques Roadshow" discovered this after bringing one of the oldest baseball card collections of the Boston Red Stockings team to the show. The archive which she got from her great-great-grandparents, almost left the appraiser in tears.

Screenshot showing the old baseball card collection (Image source: YouTube/PBS Antiques Roadshow)
Screenshot showing the old baseball card collection with handwritten notes from players (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

Hitting the Jackpot With a Rare Artifact

In this particular episode, the guest revealed that her 'great-grandmother' ran a boarding house, which once looked after the Boston Red Stockings back in 1871. 

Screenshot showing the guest's great great grandmother (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the guest's great great grandmother (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

The team was one of the first professionally paid baseball teams in the country, and they laid the foundation of the National and the American baseball leagues. The guest shared that the cards were collected by her great-great grandfather who assembled them on a board along with handwritten notes from the featured players. The cards included some of the most famous and instrumental figures of American baseball, such as Harry Wright, his brother John Wright, and Albert Spalding, who was the first to use a catching glove in the game. The collection left the expert evaluator, Leila Dunbar, stunned.

Screenshot showing the photographic baseball card of A.G. Spalding (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the photographic baseball card of A.G. Spalding (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

"They must have really loved her. I’m sure she did the cooking, the cleaning for them," Dunbar said while taking a look at the cards and the personal letters. She noted that the archive was one of the first collections of photographed baseball cards and the handwritten notes made it even more special. She showed that some of the players including Spalding, who later became the founder of a sporting goods empire, had talked about the meals prepared by the guest's great-great-grandmother.

Screenshot showing the handwritten notes from the players (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the handwritten notes from the players (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

Dunbar also pointed out the significance of having a signature from Spalding, who started the trend of wearing a baseball glove while playing amongst players, and later founded the sports equipment company of the same name. "To have anything with their signatures on it is phenomenal because again, you’re talking about the precursor to the National and American leagues," she said. Thus, she explained that the archive was a lot more special than the most valuable baseball card collections. She noted that to find something with personal remarks from Wright and Spalding was a tremendous feat.

She then asked the owner, if she was going to keep the collection in the family. The owner confirmed that she had no interest in selling the archive and wanted to pass it down to future generations. The expert then went on to value the archive for the owner to get insurance for the collection. Dunbar estimated that if the owner was getting insurance for the collection as a whole it should be for no less than a million dollars. This left the guest astonished as she could not believe her ears.



 

Dunbar then added that she had never seen such a phenomenal collection on the show and it was probably the greatest collection of all time. "I have to say, you have hit a grand slam today!" she told the guest.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
According to the expert, personal letters and a signature from Tolkien himself added to the value of the book.
7 hours ago
Chistina and Katie Currie won over $88,000 in cash and two exotic vacations with their stunning performance.
8 hours ago
After everyone backed out, the billionaire Shark stepped up to help the founder of Diaper Dust.
1 day ago
Sun kept repeating the incorrect phrase but couldn't identify the error in time.
1 day ago
After almost closing a deal with Mr Wonderful, the founder of 'Simply Good Jars' pivoted hard.
1 day ago
The host thought it was the "worst possible answer" to give even as the team felt it was good enough.
2 days ago
Adding to the controversy, the owner of Dr. Mudd's lapdesk asked Harrison for $100,000.
2 days ago
With just milliseconds to spare, Sarah LaPilusa pulled off an incredible Bonus Round win.
2 days ago
Ozark Trail 64 oz Water Bottles were recalled after the lids of faulty bottles forcefully ejected.
3 days ago
The player laughed and giggled her way through the puzzles to win prizes worth over $57,000.
3 days ago
Scott Riccardi placed an unbelievable wager during Final Jeopardy! to win a massive amount in a day!
3 days ago
The guest got a 200% return on investment on her sculpture that she bought from Macy's.
3 days ago
Jennings had a record-setting winning streak as a contestant before he became the host.
4 days ago
The player, Ron Wheeler, tragically got no clues after his letter picks for the final puzzle.
4 days ago
The former kids champion, Skyler Hornback knew what was coming.
4 days ago
The fans took issue with the clue being too tough and unnecessary for the contestants.
5 days ago
Cuban wanted to strike a deal with the founder of Coconut Girl and gave her an ultimatum.
5 days ago
Although the word did make a lot of difference, some fans felt that the decision was ridiculous.
5 days ago
The guest, who found the item online, didn't think it was the real deal until he heard its value.
6 days ago
The player Samantha secured the first big win of Ryan Seacrest's run on the show.
6 days ago