Hypothetical ethical issue. What would you do?

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Posted By: Rob Fouch

I go to a lot of tag sales -- it's a hobby and a way to make extra money to buy cards on occasion, and lately, with the cost of everything going up, just to pay bills.
In particular, I buy old books and records. Usually get them for a buck apiece and have had great luck finding some pretty valuable items on occasion. Occasionally, when I bring books home, I discover items tucked inside the pages: dried flowers; family photos, an old advertising card one time, etc. Always hoping to find a pre-war card with razor sharp corners that some kid tucked in a book in 1910. Has yet to happen, but I can dream.


My hypothetical is this. Suppose you were at a sale, looking at a bunch of old books that were marked $1 apiece, and as you were leafing through the pages of one, a pristine T206 Cobb, or Cy Young, or another Hall-of-Famer (let's not include Wagner), fell out of the book. Would you discreetly tuck it back into the pages and go pay your $1 for the book? Or would you alert the owner of the house that they have a card that is worth possibly tens of thousand of dollars? If it were only a $200-$300 card, would that make a difference? Just curious what people think.

Thanks. Rob