Rare Baseball Cards Found In Late Dad's Closet Could Fetch 'Six Figures'

A collection of more than 600 vintage baseball cards, including several hundred dating back to the early 1920s has been discovered in a tobacco box in the closet of a California home.

The collection, which includes 20 Babe Ruth Cards, a rare Shoeless Joe Jackson card, and many Hall of Famers, was recently acquired by Auction Monthly in Granite Bay, California.

Brandon, the co-owner of Auction Monthly, told Newsweek: "We received a phone call from a customer located in Tracy, California. The customer's name was John and he explained the story of how his father, Ed, had a passion for sports card collecting his entire life starting in the 1920s."

Brandon said Ed began collecting baseball cards in his adolescence and regularly received cards as gifts or hand-me-downs from friends and family.

"He would store every card securely in a 1900s Pedro Tobacco tin and had names like Shoeless Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and many more," he said.

John, Ed's son, had memories of his dad showing him the cards from time to time but it was only after his father's passing, while sorting through his belongings that he discovered the old tin box in the back of a closet and realized just how impressive a collection he had accumulated.

"In addition to Babe Ruth Ruth, Ty Cobb and 'Shoeless' Joe, the collection included many Hall-of-Famers like Walter Johnson, Casey Stengel and several cards from the iconic 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" team, famous for allegedly throwing the World Series and going down as one of the greatest scandals in the baseball's history," Brandon said.

Baseball cards are big business in the U.S. According to a recent report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the United States Sports Trading Card Market was worth $4,707.21 Million in 2019 and is projected to reach $62,063.80 Million by 2027.

Brandon said that the potential value of these cards is not yet known but it could be substantial. "The cards range from 1919 to 1926 and consist of over 20 different unique brands," he said. We are currently still evaluating what the cards will go for, but we estimate it will likely be in the high six figures."

At present, many of the cards have been sent off for grading and, depending on the results that come back, he said that the value of the collection "could rise even higher."

Once this process is complete, the plan is to sell some of the cards directly, while the higher-graded examples from the collection will go up for auction.