Posted By:
Ryan ChristoffHal,
Sorry to hear you're "feeling the pinch" and have fallen on such hard times with your oceanfront properties. It's interesting that you mention you previously listed the trade card on ebay "the LAST time a 1914 Ruth card appeared in an auction..."
Are you saying you listed it on ebay in order to bid on or buy the Baltimore News Ruth? Or, are you telling us something that is technically true (you did list it on ebay while the Baltimore News Ruth auction was still open) but really didn't have anything to do with why you listed it?
But this time you're going after the Baltimore News Ruth in the upcoming REA auction? Is that what you are implying by saying we "ought to be able to figure out the connection"?
The only reason some of us are curious is that a few of us remember the fact that you listed it on ebay within an hour or two of when the Robert Edwards lot description for the Reccius cigar box was changed to reflect the discovery of it actually being from 1917, not 1897-99. In fact, within minutes of the cigar box being dated 20 years later than originally had been thought, you listed your Wagner on ebay.
I suppose it could have been mere coincidence that you listed the card immediately after it was publicly announced that the cigar box thought to correspond with the trade card turned out to have been produced so much later.
There sure are a lot of strange coincidences surrounding this card.
To answer the original question of this thread, an 1897-99 baseball card of Wagner would certainly sell for over $100,000. A 1917 trade card of Wagner would probably sell for $10,000 to $15,000. With all of the questions about the trade card Hal consigned, my guess is somewhere around $35,000 or $40,000. Whatever it is, it's certainly rare and interesting which means it's also valuable.
-Ryan