Photo question

[Snapolit1]

Always surprised to see great Gehrig and Ruth Type 1 photos going for less than a bad Goudey card.

Is there any reliable source as to how many copies of different photos exist?

Seems hard to believe sometimes how little interest there is in iconic photos. You see the great BMY auctions and photos are going in the $200 - $300 range.

Is it just the compete unknown on supply that keeps the prices down?

[drcy]

There are a lot of different photos, but, for news photos, there will usually only be a handful at most of each. The photos were made for official purposes, usually sent to only subscribing newspapers and magazines and not offered to the general public-- and most have been lost/destroyed along the way. Some may be unique or only of only 2-3. For the average image, there may be more than say 10 in existence at most. For many famous images, the image is well known and reproduced countless times through the years, but originals are very rare.