Cards, Economics & Sci-fi

[Collect Equity]

Even though I've been reading this site for some time, I've never joined in or posted because I feel like I'm a little leagure trying to pinch hit at an MLB game. But after watching Brett receive 500+ responses and create 12 fights with his first post, I figured I'd give it a shot.

For years I've wondered what an economy strictly based on baseball cards would look like. What if absolutely everyone in else in the US shared our passion for cards? What if cardboard with baseball players - instead of paper with politicians - was the legal tender for all transactions?

This led me to consider that it would be a highly ineffective economy since it would be based upon a bartering system. To be effective it needs a standard that everything else could be compared and measured against.

So now for my question and the sci-fi part of the post:

Let's say that in 15 years the US dollar hyper-inflates to the point that it is worthless, causing everyone to reject it as a currency. Instead, each state does their own thing. Some states rely on bartering, some on gold, and Texas of course creates its own own currency backed by oil.

If during this inflationary period we as a community are planning for the National show and we want to create some standard pricing, so that people have some way to price their cards at the National, what baseball card would we use as the standard pricing unit?

Here are two thoughts I have:
1) Use a low-grade T206 common (i.e., ~$35-$45). So you could price a 1960 Topps common at .25T [T meaning T206) and a high grade T206 Cobb at 100T.

2) Use the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. I know it's heresy to use a modern card as a means of comparing vintage card prices, but Griffeys are really very common, almost as common as Washington $1 bills, and they'd be very liquid.

I'd love to hear other's thoughts. As a disclaimer, I know nothing about economics and am not even sure that my explanations above made sense or are based upon sound economic principles.

[FrankWakefield]

When the currency of the United States becomes worthless, our old ball cards will be virtually worthless, too.

[ChrisStufflestreet]

One difference:

When a dollar gets beat to hell, it's still worth a dollar.

That can't be said about baseball cards.

[Collect Equity]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

When the currency of the United States becomes worthless, our old ball cards will be virtually worthless, too.

If it's all about supply and demand, then when the dollar has no demand because there is too much supply as long as people are still collecting cards they should be worth something since they still have demand and low supply. Maybe they'd be worth Euros, or more likely Chinese Yuan.

[BlueDevil89]

With inflation in the USA, the prices of cards go up too, just the same as milk, bread, cars, homes, etc. If dollars become easier to come by because the government is adding liquidity into the marketplace, everything, including income goes up, and we all have more cheap dollars to spend on baseball cards. In that regard, baseball cards are a hedge against inflation relative to the US currency.

[jabiloxi]

I like this idea, but in a situation like the OP mentioned, I would have to say that perhaps food and precious metals would take a precedence in such an economic collapse, and always will. What I guess I mean is that, I would stuff my baseball card collection somewhere safe and barter using more life sustaining resources. Unless I found a very reminiscent man who was not diluted by hunger, thirst or need for shelter, and only cared for vintage baseball.

Collecting objects of such value is a result of our ability to live comfortable lives in a sense. We have disposable income which we can use to pursue an entertaining investment opportunity. However, if we were to suffer a catastrophic collapse of the financial network we depend on, then our collecting efforts wouldn't hold as much weight in our lives as they now do and more important pursuits for heightening our actual quality of life would soon garner all our attention, focus, and time.

[FrankWakefield]

It isn't supply and demand...

The day that the US dollar has no value... well leading up to that day would be when our government has fallen, our economic system is shot, all of the mom-apple pie-american way stuff is gone... There will be virtually no demand for ball cards in that future. They'll be good for bookmarks.