1866 Baseball Cards

bbcard1 · #1 05-15-2011, 08:44 PM

FWIW, I think they are pretty important and could go for a lot of money...it's not in my collecting interest, but for what it's worth:

Very nice copies / enlargements that could be displayed could serve the museum as well as the originals...This could probably be accomplished for less than $100.

If you have even minimal website skills (or wanted to slog your way though a few tutorials), you could do a nice website that would allow your holdings to be shared with everyone who might be interested.

Then you would be liberated to put them with an auction house which would probably yield a good bonus which you could use on something nice for your family. If you have kids or grandkids, I suggest blowing it on a Disney cruise. Did it once with a found 5 grand and never regretted it a bit. Perfect memories may family will have forever.

spec · #2 05-15-2011, 09:45 PM

Kudbegud, you have received a lot of expert and, I believe, well-meaning advice from this board. Overlooked, or at least downplayed, is the historical value of your CDVs, something I gather you grasped at the outset based on your instinct to donate them to the local historical society. These cards are an irreplaceable glimpse at a moment in the history of your family and your region. Whatever you choose to do with the collection, you ought to begin by visiting that historical society to assess their reaction. If they recognize the CDVs' significance, they might offer a variety of options ranging from buying them from you (likely with another donor's contribution), accepting them on loan or donation with strings attached or just photographing or scanning the cards for their permanent collection. That way your ancestor's treasured collection would be available to your community for generations. Further, I would suggest you contact the Society for American Baseball Research to locate a historian (perhaps someone local who could trace the players' backgrounds and eventual fates) who could use this collection as a stepping-off point in researching this team. The CDVs would make an excellent SABR journal article or monograph that would ensure your ancestor's place in baseball history. Baseball historian extraordinaire John Thorn is a frequent visitor to this board and might respond, or you could start by visiting with the SABR website, SABR.org. All of this can be done without surrendering the CDVs. If you do choose to sell the collection on the open market, they undoubtedly will pass into the hands of someone who will treasure them, but they also likely will be as inaccessible to public viewing as if they were in a museum basement.
Bob Richardson, longtime SABR member

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