What's the rarest card you own?

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I've always been amazed at how many vintage cards and memorabilia seem to have survived as one of a kind or one of very few--one of the things making the hobby so interesting.

That's the fun of it, having something unique or nearly so. I've been collecting oddball cards and premiums for decades for just that reason: so much more of a back story than a mainstream card. With that in mind, onto one of my favorite items:



I bought a collection of cards and ephemera at an antique fair. The dealer filled a showcase with stuff and wanted a set price for it, which I paid. But I had nothing to carry it in. He gave me the box that he got the collection in. It was really dirty and had all kinds of padding and crap in it, like old newspaper scraps, but beggars cannot be choosers.

One of my maxims when I buy a collection is to always take apart the packaging just in case something is hiding in there. So I started through the packing and junk at the box bottom and out tumbled three snap shots of Indians from 1948 or 1949, including this Satchel Paige. Finding something like that totally unexpected is just heaven for a collector-picker like me.