Posted By:
Martin Neal I drove down to Lynchburg to look at the cards last weekend and to help determine my bid. I had noticed from the scan that the paper loss on the backs looked to me as being something that had just happened recently. I wanted to make sure that there were not any more t206s that could meet the fate that these did (removal from an album) At that point, he had already had 5 or 6 offers to end it early so I did not even suggest it to him. The seller, Richard Mundy, had the cards on consignment and I doubt very seriously he would have ended the auction early at any price. Commendable.
The t206s were worth around $2500.00 and they were not trimmed although several were a little short. Unfortunately, I couldn't ask the board what the caramels were worth so I figured about them at about $500.00 per card. Consequently, My bid at the last second was just about 1/3 of the final price.
One thing I noticed about the Sieber card is that it has a ghost print on the back (or maybe the sheet was laid on top of another wet sheet}. If I remember correctly, the wording was reversed.
I called Richard after the auction and the place was in an uproar. I had told him that the auction would probably end in the mid to upper two thousands and he thought that it might end in the mid teens. So to say the least, he was very excited.
By the way, this afternoon he told me how the cards came to be damaged. The original owner had died recently and his son is the one who consigned them. The day after the gentleman died, the family went to his home. There on the kitchen table lay the album and all the removed cards. I hope I can peruse my old cards on my final day.