Big Find - What Would You Do? Scenario 1

[abothebear]

Sometimes when I can't sleep, I imagine a scenario where I find a hoard of T206s. I am not a T206 collector, but having the largest audience, T206s are one of the better cards to find a hoard of. The scenario changes a little bit each time I run through it, as does my sequence of actions. I thought it would be fun to see what others might do. I also know that some of you have actually experienced this, so you've gone down this road for real, not just in half-sleep dreaming.

Scenario 1 - This one is fairly straightforward. You've bought an old house you intend to turn into a rental unit. After closing you go through your new house and find some old crates that were left in the crawl space. You bring them down to the kitchen and set them on the counter and start looking through them. In one crate you find three cigar boxes packed to the lid with loose t206 cards (maybe 1000 - 1200 total). At first glance, they seemed to have been casually tossed in these boxes immediately after pulling them from the cigarette pack. Maybe the original smoker had little immediate interest but did not want to throw them away, maybe he'd give them to the neighbor boy if you thought of it when he next saw him. Their condition is unhandled, but they've been in a loose pile in a wooden cigar box for over a hundred years, so they should, for the most part, be in top shape. Initially, you see Sweet Cap 150 and Old Mill backs.

What do you do? Step by step, even down to details like - do you go buy white gloves to handle them with? or do you check with a lawyer about ownership laws?. And you can take it as far as when the cards are firmly in your own collection or are up for trade or sale or auction somewhere.

[pawpawdiv9]

1st- i be changing my draws, b/c most folks would s*** themselves by now if they found a hoard of t206's.
Best chance is finding old photo albulms with them pasted inside.

[Mark17]

I would buy the best safe on the market, put it in my homestead and bolt or concrete it into the foundation, and put the cards in it. Then, I would go through them looking for Wagner, Plank, Magie, Doyle, and set aside other valuable cards (Cobb, etc.) I would then get them graded, a few at a time, starting with the most expensive.

In other words, I would be very quiet about the find, and gradually bring them into the hobby over a number of years.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I would buy the best safe on the market, put it in my homestead and bolt or concrete it into the foundation, and put the cards in it. Then, I would go through them looking for Wagner, Plank, Magie, Doyle, and set aside other valuable cards (Cobb, etc.) I would then get them graded, a few at a time, starting with the most expensive.

In other words, I would be very quiet about the find, and gradually bring them into the hobby over a number of years.

I like this approach but if those big 4 graded high. especially the Wagner, let's say a 6/7 or better, which is possible in OP's scenario, you would be hard pressed to not disclose the provenance. A new to the hobby Wagner 7 would get a lot of scrutiny and questions from the hobby.

And would also be an instant court case brought by the previous owner of the house. The law is on your side but you never know with a jury, so your lawyer would advise a settlement once the Wagner sells.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I like this approach but if those big 4 graded high. especially the Wagner, let's say a 6/7 or better, which is possible in OP's scenario, you would be hard pressed to not disclose the provenance. A new to the hobby Wagner 7 would get a lot of scrutiny and questions from the hobby.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this, but even a T206 Wagner PSA Authentic would get lots of questions, scrutiny, and excitement, let alone a PSA 7...(!!!)

[Exhibitman]

I'd drive over to my LCS and buy about six boxes of Card Savers. I don't have anything like enough of them on hand. Once I got back, I'd sit down and put all of the cards into holders before I handled them any further. I would then do what we all do with new cards: look them over, evaluate what they are, and so on.

If the lot plus what I have add up to some form of set (short or with some mix of rare ones) I'd keep it. If not, hopefully, I could finish my T206 HOFers from the pile. That would be nice. I'd probably upgrade a few of my crappy ones too. That also would be nice.

I'd next call Al at LOTG and ask him to pick up the rest and sell them for me. I know Al would do a fantastic job of sorting the cards, getting the valuable ones slabbed, and marketing them with the personal care he always shows consignors. Maybe I would stagger the sales into different tax years to avoid bracket creep but that's a bit too granular of an answer for the call of the question.

In short, keep the ones I need, sell the rest. After all, it's just stuff and I cannot take it with me when I die. Though I definitely want to be buried in a card suit



Hopefully the cigar boxes are nice ones too. If so, I'd keep those for display.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I like this approach but if those big 4 graded high. especially the Wagner, let's say a 6/7 or better, which is possible in OP's scenario, you would be hard pressed to not disclose the provenance. A new to the hobby Wagner 7 would get a lot of scrutiny and questions from the hobby.

And would also be an instant court case brought by the previous owner of the house. The law is on your side but you never know with a jury, so your lawyer would advise a settlement once the Wagner sells.

I have a simple lifestyle that I'm comfortable with, and don't need a multi-million dollar hassle. If there was something like a Doyle or Wagner, I'd keep it quiet, and let it be part of my estate after my demise. At that point, no taxes, no questions to answer, etc. Either that, or I'd donate it anonymously to St. Judes, which is where most of my modest estate is headed anyway.

I would not let the find become a headache or worry, and I don't need or want a private helicopter, yacht, or McLaren.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by Mark17

In other words, I would be very quiet about the find, and gradually bring them into the hobby over a number of years.

This is my first thought when reading about any big find.

I'm not a T206 collector, so, with 1,000-1,200 nice cards I'd slowly grade the T206's and sell or trade them off for things I wanted over the next decade. If I found a Wagner as soon as it was slabbed and consigned I'd immediately give a 90 day notice at work and retire because even the sale of a PSA/SGC Authentic would put me WAY over my retirement number goal.

[55koufax]

Although not T206s, I had a big find of other vintage (Topps) cards. Unopened cello packs. Took them to PSA several years ago. I paid for a mold for them to be in unopened pack holders. If I had to do it over again, I would have never paid for the mold just so PSA could keep it and potentially re-use without paying one penny for it.

[gonefishin]

Originally Posted by 55koufax

Although not T206s, I had a big find of other vintage (Topps) cards. Unopened cello packs. Took them to PSA several years ago. I paid for a mold for them to be in unopened pack holders. If I had to do it over again, I would have never paid for the mold just so PSA could keep it and potentially re-use without paying one penny for it.

That's too bad - do they currently use it?

Like you, I too have been lucky enough purchase some cello packs that were so rare people didn't think they existed. I did have PSA authenticate, grade and encapsulate them, I'm just thankful I didn't have to purchase a mold! So, thank you for your contribution.

[philliesfan]

I would also change my shorts for the reason stated before.

I don't think there is a matter of ownership because you bought the house / property. If the previous owner left it behind I would consider it abandoned property. I am not a lawyer so I do not know the actual laws about this. I would also not publicize what I found.

As far as the cards, I would get them in penny sleeves and card savers and locked away if a home safe. Of coarse I would let my family members know what is in there and of the value just in case I passed on........like if I had a heart attack if I found a Wagner...haha.

I would fly out to PSA with the better cards and get them graded with the walk through service. Other top cards would go to a lesser service but I would stay at a hotel and pick them up when ready. I would sell a few of the more expensive cards at auction and with the proceeds grade everything else.

I would sell off all of the common ones slowly over a period of time before selling the remainder of the more expensive ones.

This is just off the top of my head what I would do. Not that I thought about it before.......yeah right.

Bob

[bnorth]

Break them down into 4 groups by price/condition. Sell them in 4 consecutive auctions with the same AH in order from least to most expensive. I would let the AH deal with having them graded. Would also wait to have each group graded till as soon as possible before they go to auction.

My dream find is T210s.