Amazing, and she almost sold it for $10.00! Glad she stopped and decided to check it out. This card should be placed in the Hall of Fame I think since it's so rare and in the hands of a collector it won't be shared with the rest of the world that comes to visit the Hall of Fame.Woman finds 139-year-old baseball card in box of antiques
By 'Duk
The strange story goes like this: Last summer, Bernice Gallego pulled an old baseball card from a box of antiques. She figured it might be worth something to someone, so she listed it on eBay.
The starting bid was $10.
But after getting a flurry of inquiries about whether the card was authentic or not, Gallego started to suspect she was holding something a little more valuable and immediately ended the auction.
Turns out her hunch was correct. She did have something more valuable. The card she found was made in 1869 and featured the "Red Stocking B.B. Club of Cincinnati," the sport's first professional team. It's considered one of the first baseball cards ever produced and its actual value could be worth more than $100,000 when she puts it back on eBay (with a higher starting price, of course).
Of course, the news that she had found a rare piece of early baseball history came as a shock to the 72-year-old Fresno, Calif., resident who said she's never been to a baseball game. Her tale, from unwitting discovery to learning about the card's history, is wonderfully captured by our old pal Mike Osegueda of the Fresno Bee. Click here to read it.
Unless of course the buyer decides to "loan long-term" to the HOF so that others can see that bit of history.
I'm off to check my parent's basement too... what about you?
