What would you do?
 

Hello. New member here. I haven't collected cards since the late eighties but I started thinking about two old cards I had and dug them out of the back of my closet.

They are less than 2 inches tall, black and whites, of Christy Mathewson(spelled Christe Matthewson on the card) of the NY Giants and Eddie Murphy (shortened to Ed. Murphy) of the White Sox. And the backs are completely blank.

I contacted Heritage Auctions here in Dallas and they told me that the cards are uncataloged from 1921 and would like me to list them in their next auction. They said they the Mathewson will probably go for around $2K and the Murphy, $100 or so.

Here are some notes I have gotten by email from them. They have 14 other cards from the same set.

>>Everything about them is still unknown. Right now there are 14 documented subjects and to the best of my knowledge there are maybe a handful or less of each. -- 16 subjects with yours.

>>The self-developing technology wasn't in use until the 1930's so it is possible they aren't even from the 1920's but until origin is confirmed using player/team identification is all we have to go by. The Ruth card pictures him with the Yankees so just based on that one card the set is no older than 1920 so 1916 isn't possible. Based on the currently known players/teams
1921 is the earliest we can date them thanks to the Del Pratt card since he is with Boston on the card and he played for them in 1921 and 1922.

Think I should shop these around a little more?

It seems to me something this rare, especially for a player the caliber of Christy Mathewson should be worth more.

Thanks for your input!
Tom

Welcome to the board! How did you acquire these cards?

Thanks! My grandfather knew I collected and bought them for me for $10 each in Mississippi at a flea market.

Not too sure what these are but they don't have a period look to me. They look later, maybe 1940s or 1930s.

The $2,000 is only an estimate. Since it would be offered by a well known auction house the hammer price should be close to the actual value of the cards.

I was going to guess 1940s. They're reminiscent of the Topps Magic Photo series of 1948 but with much deeper contrast than one typically finds in those.

Thanks Howard. Do you think I should stay with Heritage? Are there others that are more geared towards baseball cards? Should I try eBay?

I would think Heritage would be about as good as you could do. Definitely not ebay. Nice cards!

Welcome to the board, Tom.

Looks like you have one of those 'big fish' stories to share through the years. I have never been so lucky.

I defer to those who have responded previously as to what to do with them. Most of the members are much higher on the food chain than me.

Good Luck,
Raymond

Thanks Luke. I will call them to schedule an appointment. They want me to bring the cards in.

Ed Murphy, i found a close resemblance of the photo:
http://whitesoxcards.blogspot.com/20...ie-murphy.html
1922 american caramel E122
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__t6oFjHvLm...ddiemurphy.jpg

Wow! Nice find. I think it is the same picture.

Standard Catalog
 

These seem to be from the same set that is listed in the Standard Catalog.

1921 W-Unc.....very scarce, very cool and don't have the value they should relative to their scarcity, imo...

Heritage was correct and gave you good advice...(for the record, I am friendly with them and they advertise here) $2k is probably close for the Matty....if 2 people have to have it, it could go for more......but that is not a bad estimate imo. I have sold a few of these too, but don't remember seeing a Matty .....too rare for its own good.

http://luckeycards.com/pwuncx52nd.jpg

Very Cool. These must be the 14 he mentioned in his message to me, now my two make it 16. I think it will be hard to let go of something so scarce. I might have the only one.

You should keep it and try to collect the set.

Hey Tom, whatever you do, keep posting on here about them. I love stories like this.

Welcome aboard, Tom!

I have to agree with Jimmy. Whatever you decide, please keep us informed. I'll be interested to see what happens should you go forward with selling them.

With the increased exposure from the forum, and selling on Heritage, I wouldn't be surprised to see two Matty fans go well over $2,000, given the rarity of the pieces.

Tom,

Another one from the 1921 W-Unc self developing:

welcome to the forum! Nice cards, good luck what ever you decide to do.

Nice cards. Here's a couple more:

Attachment 181654 Attachment 181655

Hello Everyone,

Thanks again to everyone who helped me identify my cards a while back. I had made the decision that I was going to go ahead and keep them. They are very rare, one of a kind cards!

But I have changed my mind, again, and am going to go ahead and sell them. I have contacted Heritage again (just emailed) about getting them in their next auction. I had a few offers through private messages last time around. If you're interested let me know.

Thanks.
Tom

May auction
 

Hello again,

I have consigned the cards to Heritage for their May auction. The link below says that bidding will begin around April 21st. If you click on the links you can view the descriptions that they gave the cards.

You can view and bid on my entire consignment in auction #7123 at thefollowing link: http://www.ha.com/c/search.zx?saleNo...ve-notice&FC=0

I'll came back closer to auction time with another reminder. Thanks again for all of your helpful tips and advice.

Tom

Nice
 

Thanks for the heads up Tom. I am tracking them and looking forward to seeing how they end up. Best of luck,
Eric

Tom, FYI in the event you are not aware, the Walter Johnson example that Leon showed earlier in this thread was sold by Heritage last summer in their special auction of Leon's collection - here's the link to it:
http://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/19...ription-071515