1902 Sutthoff pin
 

A while back I donated a very cool card to a family that would appreciate it even more than I did. I still miss the card but it is in it's rightful place, imo. Here is a message I got from the gentleman I gave it to, with a request for information. Any help will be appreciated- (I think he borrowed my quarter!!)



Leon,
I wanted to check in with you again. We still treasure the wonderful gift you sent to us and I have found a contact who is going to
look into framing the card "somehow", not sure just yet. They are very reputable and familiar with handling and preserving old
items such as the card you gave me. I also wanted to pass along these pictures. This is my grandfathers 1902 champion pin
from the Indianapolis Indians. The picture isnt the greatest but its all I had from my phone. It reads CHAMPION on the left scroll,
J. SUTTHOFF in the middle and 1902 on the right scroll. It looks gold, not sure if it is. Any info you might have on this would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve Sutthoff

Neat pin
Did you send the quarter too along with the Card? :)

No, on the quarter, but it has to be mine as it looks just like one I have. :)

What more info could he want? It's a pin given to the members of the 1902 Indianapolis Baseball Club. If he can't tell if it's gold or not all he has to do is take it to a jewelry store and they'll be able to tell right away.

Good question. I guess if it is rare or valuable would be 2 easy questions? My guess is rare but not valuable.

I think you'd have to define valuable...1902 was the first year of the Indianapolis Indians and they won their first of many championships...get two Indianapolis minor league collectors in a bidding war....

Dan, that is good info that I didn't know. I think that is the type of info he might have been looking for. Thanks again!!

Leon, I agree that the item is definitely RARE and may be the only one still around. If it is made of gold it is more valuable as there is value in the material used to make it. As to value (assuming NOT gold) I could be off but I would estimate the vlaue in the $1000-2000 range as it really depends on the interested parties (as there could be a bidding-war by two Indy guys and it could go for more). IMO it is way cooler than the "value" would indicate. Obviously, it doesn't look like it is going anywhere but that is my 2-cents.
-Rhett

Thanks Rhett....that estimate is a bit more than I would have thought but this type item is outside of my realm of expertise (if I even have a realm of expertise? :confused:)
LL

That estimate seems high to me too, I might at least cut it in half. And it's certainly not made of gold. But it is a cool piece and possibly unique.

If that was from Wichita I'd definitely pay in the price range that Rhett quoted. That's an incredible piece of minor league memorabilia probably awarded as a prize for batting/pitching or an award for winning the championship. Very cool and thanks for sharing.