GUEST 1: When my grandmother died, my father was cleaning out his bedroom, and in his closet, in his bedroom, he found the box with some other assorted things. When he opened up the box, he saw all of these cards in there with other odds and ends inside the writing box. So that's where the box comes from.
GUEST 2: And when we looked in the box, we realized that the cards were very old, and they were in excellent condition, so of course, we're concerned about how much they're worth, and how to preserve them.
APPRAISER: What we have here is the genesis of baseball card collecting, okay? This is the late 1880s, and these were tobacco cards. These were actually put in packs of tobacco as stiffeners.
GUEST 1: Yeah.
APPRAISER: Now, people collected them. Some people gave them to kids, some people pasted them in scrapbooks. These were put in this beautiful box and tucked away for 100 years. You don't really see that too often, okay? This first set here, these are called Allen and Ginter cards. And you can see the most beautiful color lithography you've ever seen, just fantastic. And here we have four of the best cards in this group. These are four Hall of Famers-- we have Tim Keefe, we have John Montgomery Ward, we have Charles Comiskey, who Comiskey Park is named after.
GUEST 1: We recognized that name.
APPRAISER: And Adrian "Cap" Anson. These are the best cards in this particular set. Now, you also have these right here. These are called Old Judge cards. These are also from the 1880s, and it's the first card to actually use a photographic image. And here we have three of your best ones in this collection, including Hugh Duffy, who's a Hall of Famer, Jim Mutrie, the manager of the New York Giants, and Buck Ewing. Here we have the most beautiful cards I've seen in years. I mean, these are just absolutely pack-fresh, if you will. So you have about 40 of these. Collectors look for condition. That's the number-one thing. They're also looking for the individual, obviously. As far as value is concerned now, I would estimate the collection that I see right here at approximately $12,000 to $15,000, okay?
GUEST 1: Oh, my gosh, yeah.
APPRAISER: It's a wonderful collection, it's very exciting to see, and thank you so much for coming in.
GUEST 1: Thank you.
GUEST 2: Thank you.
