Seven Rare Ty Cobb Cards Found in Dilapidated House Valued at $1 Million

Entertainment

 | March 4, 2016 | By Kenny Servera

One family, quite literally, almost threw $1 million in the trash.

While cleaning their great-grandparents dilapidated Southern home, a family recently found seven rare Ty Cobb cards. Memorobilia authenticators believe the find could range into the millions.

The family, who wishes to remain nameless, found the seven identical baseball cards of legendary Detroit Tigers outfielder Cobb dating from a printing in 1909-1911. Previously, only 15 of this particular card were known to exist. The “T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb back,” as it’s known to collectors, was likely a limited release and differs from the standard Ty Cobb card produced by the American Tobacco Company.

The cards are said to be more rare than the Honus Wagner T-206 cards, which is worth an estimated $2 million.

The great-grandchildren of the home’s original owners found the rare cards wrapped in a torn brown paper bag. The family didn’t know much about baseball and were about to discard the entire bag, but the name “Ty Cobb” did ring some bells.

The family decided to take photos of the rare cards and emailed it to Rick Snyder, a sports authenticator in South Carolina.

Snyder then sent the images to Professional Sports Authenticator president Joe Orlando. He was shocked to see the cards.

In a post on the PSA website, Orlando dubbed the cards “The Lucky Seven” and were authenticated. He stated that “he felt like a little kid again” after the discovery.

He later tweeted the photos of the cards, which you can check out below:

Even with 22 known examples after the find, the card remains far tougher to locate than the famed T206 Honus Wagner: pic.twitter.com/tY5sdKPW7H

— Joe Orlando (@JoeOrlandoPSA) March 2, 2016

The cards’ value is sure to shift now that there are so many more in existence, and an exact figure is difficult to figure out. Orlando stated that the total worth of the whole cache should exceed $1 million.

It’s not yet clear what the family intends to do with the cards.

There were about 15 known examples of the Ty Cobb with "Cobb" back prior to the find. Now there are about 22. pic.twitter.com/vdVWR6UCeU

— Joe Orlando (@JoeOrlandoPSA) March 2, 2016

Cobb is considered to be the best all around player in baseball history. He played for 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia A’s before retiring as the holder of 43 major league regular season career records.

His .367 career batting average is still the highest in MLB history. He is credited with setting 90 records during his career.

Though he was great on the field, off the field he was considered to be hot-tempered and allegedly a racist.

Seven T206 Ty Cobb cards worth well into seven figures, all found at the bottom of great grandpa's old bag: pic.twitter.com/vFlfrhfVUq

— Joe Orlando (@JoeOrlandoPSA) March 2, 2016