Posted By:
barrysloateWell, I have an extraordinary story to share with everyone on the board, and I don't even know where to begin.
I know today is April Fool's day, and I realize this story seems too good to be true. But I have to tell everyone that April does exist, that she does have these baseball cards, and that if it authenticates it will be the highlight lot of my June auction. Sometimes stories defy the imagination, and this is one of them.
When I woke up early this morning and saw this post, I immediately emailed her. I too was skeptical but she got back to me and sounded perfectly legitimate. The first thing I said to her is that it is not unusual to find a group of T206's that are still in a family's possession, but the appearance of any printer's proof would be. Then she told me exactly what I was hoping to hear- that her husband's grandfather spent his life in the printing business and that these cards originated from him. We continued talking, I directed her to my website, and she became very excited about the prospect of auctioning the card.
I called a very close friend of mine in the Virginia area who has collected tobacco cards for years, and asked him if he knew the town she lived in, and said it was about forty minutes from him. I asked him if he was willing to drive over there today (of course with the promise of a hefty finder's fee) and he got there about 11:00 this morning. He called me shortly thereafter and confirmed that everything about it was consistent with how a T206 should look- color, paper stock, etc.
At this moment we are in possession of this card and it will arrive here on Tuesday. I will immediately head out to SGC to have it authenticated. If it passes muster, and so far it looks like it will, it will be the highlight of my upcoming June auction.
This has been a whirlwind day and my heart is going at double speed. If all works, this will be the greatest find I have ever made. I think it is one of these situations where sometimes something that looks too good to be true may actually be true. Please all wish me luck. I will keep you posted.