1953 Stahl Meyer Set (Advice?)

[sunspot22]

I run an Automotive repair business in Southeast Wisconsin and recently I took some cards in trade for installing some tires. It is an 84 year old man who knew there were some good cards in his folder, but wanted me to have them regardless of value. I knew he has a complete set of the Johnston Cookies Milwaukee Braves because he had mentioned them before, including 2 Aaron rookies. To my surprise once he actually handed over the folder (just loose cards in a folder! ugh). Anyway they are all still in decent shape. To my surprise there were some cards in there besides the Braves cards......a complete set of 1953 Stahl Meyer! I know not to get too excited until I could verify these as real. I started my research and quickly realized that the cards I have looked different than anything online that I could find. They are not waxy, are miscut a bit and no rounded corners. I called the guy up to get more information about how he had this set of cards that were distributed in New York? He said that his grandma gave the Braves and Stahl Meyer cards to him sometime around early 1960's, he remembered he was in his early 20's and she gave him all the cards at the same time including a uncut sheet of the 9 Stahl Meyer cards. Of coarse he promptly cut them apart so they would look like other baseball cards. This explains the miscut edges. I asked if he had any idea how his grandma got hold of an uncut sheet of Stahl Meyer cards. Unfortunately, he has no idea how she got them. One theory could be that she knew someone that worked at Mill Print in Milwaukee, only 30 minutes from home? Did someone keep an uncut sheet? Could reprints of these already be a thing in the 60's? Is he just remembering dates wrong? So, I sent them in to SGC and the came back "Authentic, signs of trimming". So these things are real! Now, what could these things be worth. How do I even go about finding their value? Will add pictures once I figure out how. Pictures have been added below.

[sunspot22]

[swarmee]

Welcome to Net54. Sounds like you have a neat find. Recommend you upload pictures to a photo sharing site like Imgur and then post the links to the images here.

[Lucas00]

You got probably the best deal in car repair history. A single '54 johnston Aaron is basically $1000 minimum. If authentic and presentable. If it say gets a 3 that price triples.

The Stahl Meyer mantle alone trimmed is probably $3000-$4000 minimum (depending how bad its trimmed)

Not talking about the other cards in the set or the second aaron/what each card grades. You're breaking $10,000 easily. And probably approaching $20,000.

[sunspot22]

[GasHouseGang]

You can also add pictures easily if you are on a computer. You can click the paper click symbol at the top and then access a picture file on your computer and add it.

[sunspot22]

Man, I just can't figure out how to add my pictures. I don't see a paper clip and my URL won't load either. Is it really this difficult to post a picture of my baseball cards?

[NiceDocter]

when you post.... scroll down to "manage attachments" and go from there..

[sunspot22]

[G1911]

It won't allow a file to be attached if the file is bigger than ~2mb. The site does not support standard 2024 image sizes. If larger, it has to be shrunk and then the system shrinks it even further to be ~200kb or below, less than 10% the size of a photograph from an iPhone.

[GeoPoto]

These are the only two I have -- the PSA Pop report says there have been 8 Campanella's graded higher than PSA 1; and 10 Irvin's. I would expect a PSA 1 Campanella to sell for around $1,000 and a PSA 1 Irvin around $200.

[sunspot22]

My 53 Stahl Meyer Mantle Photo

[sunspot22]

53 Stahl Meyer Complete Set SGC Authentic

[sunspot22]

Ok, got the pictures up. Here are some questions:

1. Since these are from an uncirculated, unwaxed sheet that never touched a hot dog, are these more valuable or less valuable because they are so unique?

2. How unique are these? One of a kind?

3. Would Mantle collectors get excited about these?

4. Keep together as whole set?

5. Best way to sell these?

[swarmee]

My opinions:

1) Usually cards cut from an unfinished sheet are worth less than their "pack-released" counterparts. Trimmed cards with solid eye appeal can sell for anywhere between PSA 2-4 prices compared to their damaged regular counterparts. But with rare/scarce sets, I don't know that there is any standard. Scrap T206 cards missing color passes (printed without specific ink colors) can sell for more than regular cards based on their rarity.
2) ?
3) Of course.
4) Individually to player collectors
5) Auction; companies will come to you now that you've posted them here.

[raulus]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they would probably be a lot more valuable if you hadn't cut them up.

[sunspot22]

I didn't cut them as I stated in the original story at the top. I can only imagine how cool this would have been as an intact complete sheet!

[raulus]

Apologies - I misread that part.

In any event, my guess is that they would've been much more valuable as a complete sheet.

In this case, value is going to be dependent on finding a buyer who really wants them, or an ability to somehow market these as having some crazy provenance that makes them special.

Otherwise, my best guess is that value is basically going to be similar to the average trimmed Stahl Meyer piece. Not nothing, but probably also failing to capture the fact that these are something extra special.

Of course, I've been wrong before, and badly. So maybe someone will be willing to pay a lot extra for them.

[Beercan collector]

Gawd , almost makes a person want to break them out and trim them again 😬

[Lucas00]

I love the Hodges, that cotton candy sky..

[sunspot22]

I almost did trim them better. It was recommended by THE Rob Lifson that I leave them alone for now as the trim marks help tell the unique story and binds them as a set. This is a very abnormal situation.

[Beercan collector]

Did you try putting them back together 🙂 ?
It looks like the Campanella may have been to the right of the Snider

[sunspot22]

They didn't quite fit like a puzzle, so he must have cut them apart and then trimmed them a bit more. I wish he was better with the scissors!

[sunspot22]

Has any of you ever seen one of these before? I have researched a lot and have not found anything like this. Could these be the only 53 Stahl-Meyer cards that escaped the print company?

[sunspot22]

Curious what you all think of the value of these?

[jchcollins]

It would have been better if they hadn’t been trimmed / sheet cut obviously, but I would guess these will still be worth a very pretty penny. Finding Stahl-Meyers that were not subjected to hot dog juice is not a situation that you run across every day, and cards like that which present well are going to be valuable even in Authentic holders like that, especially if the images present well - as yours appear to.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[raulus]

Originally Posted by sunspot22

Curious what you all think of the value of these?

Take a look at the recent sales of other 53 Stahl Meyer cards. Look at the authentic ones. Then look at the ones that are higher graded.

My guess is that the floor is going to be at the authentic level, and the odds are good that they might command a premium to that price point.

Action in these cards tends to be thin to begin with, simply because there's not that many of them. Action for cards precisely like yours doesn't exist, so you're going to set the market when you sell them.

In my mind, a lot will depend on who the buyers are. Are they set registry guys? If so, my guess is that they'll trade pretty close to what the authentic pieces typically trade for, maybe a bit higher if one hasn't come onto the market for a while. On the other hand, if the buyers are buying for other reasons, because they think it's an amazing card with a great image that just happens to be (poorly) sheet cut, then you're more likely to get into a multiple scenario.

I would guess that you're not looking at 7 figures or even 6 figures here. But for a few of the star players, your odds are better to get into 4 and maaaaaaaaaaybe even 5 figures. My guess is that Mantle will be high 4 figures, low 5 figures, and that's probably your money card right there. The rest aren't nothing, but they're not going to change your life.

[AustinMike]

Originally Posted by sunspot22

Curious what you all think of the value of these?

Those are nice!

But, I think you would get more for them if the label stated that they are waxless and cut from a sheet. Is there any reason why SGC didn't label them as such? Anybody looking at them will think they are normal cards that are trimmed.

[sunspot22]

Yea, we had no idea how they would label these. Now that they are encased it is hard to tell that they are not waxed. I don't know what you would actually call these. Are they proofs? Uncirculated? I wonder what PSA or another company might have labeled them with?

[Lucas00]

I'll stand with my original price valuation.