1870s Boston find

[GaryPassamonte]

Boston find to be on Antiques Road Show.

[Runscott]

One 'find' like that, and I'm retiring.

[Mountaineer1999]

When does the show air?

[Pat R]

...

[Baseball Rarities]

Great collection. I have always liked Mort Rogers scorecards. Too bad they are cut down.

[GaryPassamonte]

The story on the web says the collection came into the Roadshow in NYC and originated from the woman whose boarding house the Boston team stayed at in 1871-72. The show is not scheduled to air until 2015 according to the article.

[barrysloate]

Only one CdV and it's Al Spalding.

[GasHouseGang]

Here's a link to the story.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/08/11/pbs-antiques-show-finds-million-baseball-trove/nqMSKXMYfnfwqXz83ByjUL/story.html

They valued it at as a $1 million find.

[GaryPassamonte]

It looks like tacks are holding the photos and memorabilia to the board.

[JeremyW]

Gary- I think those are just magnets. I hope this collection finds its way to an auction block sometime in the not too distant future.

[barrysloate]

There's nothing there worth anywhere even remotely close to $1 million. It's a really substantial grouping, but I don't think it's worth a tenth of that amount.

[jcmtiger]

Pretty sure they use some type of magnetic type pins to hold the items.

Joe

[Baseball Rarities]

There's nothing there worth anywhere even remotely close to $1 million. It's a really substantial grouping, but I don't think it's worth a tenth of that amount.

My guess was $100K or so, unless there is something in the signatures that is work a fortune.

[sporteq]

It looks like tacks are holding the photos and memorabilia to the board.

I was thinking the same.. maybe they are magnets.

Albert

[ChiSoxFan]

My guess was $100K or so, unless there is something in the signatures that is work a fortune.

Here is another write-up about the find, including the signatures.

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/rare-19th-century-baseball-memorabilia-uncovered-antiques-roadshow/


Thanks,
ChiSoxFan

[MVSNYC]

I watch the show all the time...they're magnets for sure.

[rmacpa]

in addition to the expected crop variations, it is apparent that pose variations also exist within the mort rogers series

<p align="center"><img src="http://photos.imageevent.com/rmacpa/baseball/huge/wrightfront4.jpg">
<br /><b>1871/72 mort rogers photographic card of harry wright</b>
<br />front - click on image to enlarge</p>

[spec]

in addition to the expected crop variations, it is apparent that pose variations also exist within the mort rogers series

<p align="center"><img src="http://photos.imageevent.com/rmacpa/baseball/huge/wrightfront4.jpg">
<br /><b>1871/72 mort rogers photographic card of harry wright</b>
<br />front - click on image to enlarge</p>

Nearly every Mort Rogers scorecard I have seen over more than 40 years of collecting bears a unique photo.

[wonkaticket]

There's nothing there worth anywhere even remotely close to $1 million. It's a really substantial grouping, but I don't think it's worth a tenth of that amount.

+1

[btcarfagno]

While I have no idea the value of the individual scorecards, I do believe that the letter alone could fetch over $100k. That Boston team featured five or so members of the 1869 Red Stockings team. If all of them signed this, including Wright and Wright and Spalding all during their playing days, I have to think that a bidding war could ensue of HOF autograph collectors. This would be perhaps the best example extant of the signature of three key HOFers. As such, I would guess that the letter by itself would garner well north of $100k. Not near $1mil....but over $100k.

Tom C

[barrysloate]

I missed that the letter was signed, my bad. I was looking at the OP's picture, and couldn't tell it was signed. So yes, maybe something north of 150k would be a reasonable estimate. But not a million, won't happen.

[Tomman1961]

My wife was there Saturday. It was at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. The episodes will air "Fall 2014" it what she was told.

[Tabe]

What is the..."thing"...in the bottom left corner of the board? Looks like a modern day "book" card but obviously isn't. ???

[autograf]

Appears to be an 1860's-1880's CDV/Cabinet photo album. Pretty common and of no value really to the lot. I could see a couple of people getting crazy on the letter since it's historical significance and all those signatures there together on a single document. I'll wager $150-$225K. Not sure anyone would go crazy on the trimmed Mort Rogers scorecards. A clean one is probably $10-$20K based on previous sales. Would these be worth $1-$2K each to someone.....or more? Or less? A very historically significant lot. Does the HOF bid on stuff like that?

[barrysloate]

The reason all of the photographic pieces are badly trimmed is so the original owner could then fit them into the slots of that CdV album. That is certainly how they were preserved for 140 years. Had the scorecards remained loose and never been trimmed, it is highly likely they would have been thrown out or lost many years ago. CdV albums were the most common way for families to save and display their photos.

[bgar3]

I would certainly like the trimmed scorecards, I think the photos are what are important and I would never grade them or care about grades. While I doubt I am the only one who thinks that way, I hope I am.

[GaryPassamonte]

A group of ten covers sold for $45K in a 2000 auction.

[Leon]

A group of ten covers sold for $45K in a 2000 auction.

However, in that time frame everything went for a ton of money. Nowadays, things have calmed a bit. I keep seeing estimates on the news of 1M+ and I shake my head. Great stuff, but nowhere close to 1M. I bet no where close to half that....All that said, any of these finds that make national news is good for the hobby, imo.

[autograf]

Clearly, Antiques Roadshow is touting the find to hype their show and keep people coming out with things from the woodwork. Like Leon said, good for the hobby and great eye candy. Would like to see a really high-res, Heritage Auctions type of scan on that letter.

[BlueSky]

Just hit the ABC World News report this evening.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/baseball-trove-gets-1m-pricetag-on-antiques-roadshow/blogEntry?id=24970729&source=wn

[GaryPassamonte]

Barry- We haven't even discussed the Spalding CdV in this thread. What do you think the value of that is? $5-$10K?

[barrysloate]

Alot more than that Gary. Spalding is one of those HOFers with virtually no individual cards. You're not going to get a Yum Yum or G & B, so he really is primarily found on teams cards. I dug up that one CdV about ten years ago, REA sold one before that, so this is maybe the third one. I think 25- 30K would not be unreasonable. Also remember that people chase things, so it is likely to go higher than you might think.

And to add: Wouldn't a K- Bats Harry Wright sell for around 30k? Don't you think this CdV is roughly in that ballpark?

[GaryPassamonte]

Barry- The Warren Spalding CdV from the piece you had sold for about $12K in 2009. It did have serious condition issues. Maybe closer to $20K would be a good estimate.

[barrysloate]

20k sounds reasonable.

I remembered the Warren cabinet after I posted, but there are still no more than 4 or 5 period photographs of Spalding. A tough HOFer, and it won't be cheap.

[The Nasty Nati]

Here's a video that ESPN Mint Condition recently ran on the find:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11384341