Mueller: Million-dollar discovery of Ty Cobb cards in a paper bag
From SABR member Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily on March 2, 2016:
The population of one of the rarest baseball cards in the world has grown by seven after an amazing discovery in the rural South. Only about 15 of the rare 1909-1911 T206 Ty Cobb variation, distributed only in tins of the short-lived Ty Cobb Tobacco product, were known to exist until a family began going through the belongings of a family’s deceased great-grandfather. While not immediately certain of the scarcity of what they’d found, it became apparent last month that they’d stumbled upon a small fortune inside the dilapidated home.
It’s one of those stories that makes collectors swoon.
According to PSA President Joe Orlando, the cards were sitting inside a crumpled paper bag that contained other items, including some old postcards. The family almost tossed the bag away but decided to flip through the contents when the cards, turned face down, caught their eye. Having seen a TV report on the Black Swamp Find, they contacted South Carolina vintage card dealer Rick Snyder of Mint State, Inc.
“My initial reaction was absolute skepticism. I doubted they were authentic because finding seven of these cards at one place at one time seemed almost impossible,” Snyder recalled.
Read the full article here: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/million-dollar-find-in-a-paper-bag/
Originally published: March 3, 2016. Last Updated: March 3, 2016.