The Michigan woman found the baseball cards in her late brother's storage unit
Credit: Brent Ashcroft
NEED TO KNOW
- A Michigan woman discovered rare 1933 Goudey baseball cards, including four Babe Ruth cards, in her late brother’s belongings
- The collection, featuring cards of Hall of Famers such as Lou Gehrig and Mel Ott, is valued at over $100,000
- Legends Sports & Games in Kentwood, Michigan, is encouraging others to check old storage spaces for hidden treasures after her valuable find
A Michigan woman thought her late brother left behind nothing but trash, but his baseball cards actually turned out to be a great treasure.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, took the collection of baseball cards to sell at Legends Sports & Games in Kentwood, Michigan.
“Her exact words were, ‘These are either duds or diamonds,' ” Legends owner and President Lou Brown said, according to WOOD TV.
“Absolutely no expectation of the true value of these things and the importance of these cards," Brown added.
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She soon discovered that she had brought in around 200 of the 240 cards from the “iconic” 1933 Goudey baseball set.
According to Just Collect, the 1933 Goudey baseball set is described as the "most important set issued during the 1930s".
The Goudey set included Babe Ruth, Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby, among other big baseball stars of the time.
Brown said the woman's collection included four Babe Ruth cards.
"Of the four, the most difficult to find is card number 53, while card number 144 is considered a double print," Just Collect's website states. "All four cards have interest among collectors. The same photo used on card 181 was also used in the 1935 Goudey 4 in 1 set."
The woman also had two Lou Gehrig cards, two Mel Ott cards and several other Hall of Famers. Brown estimated the collection was worth over $100,000 before doing further examination of the cards.
“It's not something that walks in every day, month, year. We've had some pretty amazing collections that have come in. This is up there,” he said.
Credit: Brent Ashcroft
Brown said that the woman found the collection after looking through her late brother's storage unit in Omaha, Nebraska, around two years ago.
While sifting through his items, which she pointed out mostly were "junk," she discovered the cards in a small tin box.
“She told us she could have easily thrown the box away with everything else,” said Brown. “But something compelled her to open it. Thankfully, she did.”
She eventually rediscovered the tin box again in her home, and was shocked to find out that her brother had been holding on to such valuable collectibles.
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"So check that attic," Legends Sports & Games encouraged people in the caption of an Instagram video. "Open that old box. Look through that collection your family has had sitting around."
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