Blogging the Reading Card Show, Part II

As I said, money's an important determiner in the business. A little background. Because for example a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card commands a price a north of $10 grand in pristine condition, you have scores of men trying to make a quick buck. Real-life events can impact a card's value too. Take Mark McGwire's rookie card, the 1985 Topps Olympic card. Before McGwire was suspected of steroids, this card was easily valued at $100 and more. Now, you practically can't give the McGwire card away. I saw some in reading selling for $10. Like Enron stock, the McGwire rookie card rose and fell with its subject.

To me, baseball cards are living history. At the end of the show, I happened upon a really cool baseball card find. For those unfamiliar, a "find" is when you clean out your grandparents attic and discover crates of unopened baseball cards. It happens less frequently these days. But recently, a man cleaning out his basement happened on such a find. And this sucker hit the jackpot.

Opening a plain brown-paper bag, the man discoved 298 baseball cards from 1915-1916! That's right. We're talking legends: Cy Young, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Honus Wagner and more. In fact, the only wear and tear on the cards occurred in the paper bag. Apparently, the cards were given to the man by his uncle--who delighted in eating Cracker Jacks during the ballgame. The cards were distributed inside the Cracker Jacks boxes. Each card will command roughly $7,500 minimum at auction. That's quite a score.

For me, though, it wasn't about the cash that was about to be generated: It was about how these relics survived in tact from basement floods, fires even overzealous neatnicks wanting to clean out the basement. Remarkable really.