New collector need help with 1910 and 1911 cards
 

My grandfather just opened his safe deposit box after 40 years and gave me his card collection that he received from his uncle 40 years ago.
From my review of the collection I have the following
47 cards plus some dupes from 1910 Obake 150 and 175 subjects
19 cards from 1909 Obak Old English series
173 plus dupes from the 1911 Obak Red Back series
10 cards from the 1911 Turkey Red
85 cards from 1911 Zeenut
10 cards from 1912 Mono (T217)
10 cards from 1910 sporting life.
Included in these cards is the Weaver 1911 Zeenut that I just sold at auction for $17k in Oct. 2009.
None of these cards he gave me have ever been graded, but from what I can tell are near mint to mint as they have been kept in safety deposit boxes b/t my grandfather and his uncle for nearly 10 decades.
I have no clue where to begin or who to turn to have these graded, or even if I should. He gave them to me with the intention that I sell them, but I am not sure. Just a bit overwhelmed as really didn't realize the value, just thought it was great that these were 100 years old!
I would be much appreciated on some guidance. I have compling an inventory on excel of the cards and I also plan to scan them.

You're a lucky man.

Sounds like a West Coast collection. Enjoy the cards!

Sounds like a really nice collection you have there. The rarest cards you have in the group are the Mono cards. The Turkey Red, Sporting Life & Obaks are the least rare (with the 1909 Obaks being in much higher damand than the later years.) The 1911 Zeenuts aren't particularly difficult but if there are tough to find players in there they could bring a premium.

If you decide to sell & want to maximize your price and only have very limited experience with vintage cards I would probably contact a trusted auction house (I would recommend REA (Robert Edward Auctions) but everyone has their preference). However, if you are somewhat computer savvy and have some time on your hands you could also just list them on ebay individually (each card by themselves), if you do this be sure to take good scans, identify any flaws, and list them in the correct area and you could do it yourself.

What I wouldn't do is let anyone try to get individual cards before you go to sell as they probably have more knowledge than you do and will likely pick the rare ones out without you knowing.

Whatever you do I wish you the best.
-Rhett

"What I wouldn't do is let anyone try to get individual cards before you go to sell as they probably have more knowledge than you do and will likely pick the rare ones out without you knowing."

Great advice Rhett!

For example if you have a 1911 Zeenut Bohen it could be worth thousands of dollars. If you have a 1911 Zeenut Wares it could be worth $150.00. Be very carefull!

I would recommend that you contact SGC and have all of the cards graded. SGC is the premier grading company for the card issues you have. Once graded get them into a high profile auction.

Good luck you lucky dog. :)

Congrats on your inheritance!

One piece of advice; since you mentioned your not familiar with handling cards, you might want to consider sending them in to SGC for grading as soon as you can and then work on cataloging and scanning later; that way you don't have to worry about damaging the cards as you flip through them or remove them from the scanner bed. A tiny hairline crease or a corner ding can make a significant difference in the value of the card.

If you want to start "collecting" old ball cards, then HOLD onto all of these, and start reading and learning about old cards. Try to find vol 2 and vol 3 of Mr. Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards. It is a bit dated now, but it is an excellent starting point for understanding the cards. No need to spend money on grading these if you're "collecting". Over the years you can add to the family collection. (I'd list what you have now, so the next collector in your family can ascertain which cards are additions to the family collection.)

If you just want to pass these on down to a male child in a generation or so, then close the safe and remember the combination. Again, no need to spend money on grading. Keep these cards in the family.

If you're wanting to cash out... get in touch with some of the reputable card dealers... they could sell your cards the best way, depending on the cards. Bill Goodwin, Barry Sloate, Lew Lipset come to mind. Brockleman and Luckey sell cards. Talk to several before settling on one.

Don't let us buzzards here pick the bones... we'd all like to have one or all of them. You could contact a few of us, and send us scans, we could tell you what you have. If you go to Barnes & Noble, or Amazon, you can get a new edition of The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, it will help and guide you toward recognizing some of the more valuable cards.... the guides aren't perfect, and are less so in a novice's hands. Generally, folks new to the hobby overgrade and misidentify.

If you already sold the 1911 Weaver Zeenut at auction for $17K in Oct. 2009 and you were happy with the sale then I think you are already on the right road.

He has a Zeenut Weaver and noticed one sold at auction; not his. He edited his post "Reason: Sorry I didn't sell the Weaver, "I saw it sold" for $17k"

Thanks --too early to read the real fine print !!!!!!!

Sounds like a great collection. You got all the good advice you need in the first few posts from Rhett, Steve and Frank.

As Frank says, if you want to keep them then grading isn't as important. Put them in a secure place and try to learn about them (caution - it's addicting). This board, the Lipset Encyclopedia, plus Old Cardboard magazine - link to OC at the top of this page - are good sources and very interesting too.

If you want to sell them, then Steve makes a good suggestion to go with SGC. People have their preferences, but the hobby in general tends to lean toward SGC a the grader of choice.

And Rhett gives the best immediate advice of all - don't let people here try to cherry pick the best cards for a song. There are a whole whole lot of really good people here that would make you a very fair offer on individual cards or groups of cards. But there are also those few that will spam your PM trying to be first in line for a steal. (I'll bet that your PM area is already starting to fill up with expressions of interest.) You probably won't be able to tell the fair offers from the low-balls, so the safest thing would be to politely decline all for now until you have had a chance to better understand what you have.

If you go the auction route, the auction house may help with the grading process or at least advise on which would be best graded.

You've received good advice in this thread - I'm just an echo! :D And you've already done one of the smartest things you could have done, which is come on this board and ask for advice instead of taking them to a local card dealer or antique shop. You'll get better advice here than anywhere. Watch for certain auction house, graders and individual names to keep surfacing in the recommendations, and you'll know where to go next.

Good luck with it. Post scans when you have them.

Joann

yeppers
 

All good advice so far. The main thing is to take your time. You will get a million suggestions. You will need to decide if you want to collect cards or not. If not, AND if you want to sell them, then maximizing your return is what you will want to do. Getting the cards that are worth $100+ graded, would probably be a wise move. Good luck with your good fortune....and did I mention to take your time :).

That can't be said enough.

The option to sell will always be there so there is no rush.

The best advice anyone can give you, besides learning as much as you can about them, is do not under any circumstances sell them outright to people sending private emails to you, if you do not know their value. Any transaction of that nature is likely to end unhappily for you. If you plan to sell them they should be auctioned by any reputable auction house.

Thanks for the advice
 

I was thinking about having at least a few graded at a minimum to get an idea to the overall condition because each grouping are of very similar quality.
I do enjoy set and only being 2 cards away from the Obak set is pretty awesome.
I have heard that SGC is the pkace to go for Vintage cards. I am aware of the need for the Bohen card. Once a card is sent in to a grading company does it get placed on a national registry as now being known to be in existence and the quality of the card or is that maintained privately by the company?

Grading
 

Congratulations on your fine collection. If I were you, I would definitely not follow the advice to immediately grade your cards with SGC! If you are looking to sell one or more cards in your collection right now and wish to maximize the dollar value, you may find that grading your cards with PSA (given an equal grade to SGC) will yield a far higher return. If I owned your cards and were looking to sell one or more cards, I would consign the card(s) to one of the top card auction houses (REA as an example) and let them have the card(s) graded by the grader of their choice. They may choose SGC or they may choose PSA - they will have an educated and experienced opinion on the best grading company to use to maximize the sale price.

I would like to debunk the myth that PSA cards sell for more than SGC cards, especially with regard to the ones you have. But I do know there are two schools of thought on this.

If you get a card graded it will show up in the company's population report. If you have a set or near set graded in its entirety, then it will show up on their site as your set, and it will be ranked among the other like sets handled by that company only. You can have, for example, the highest grade SGC set even if there are one or more better sets on PSA's registry.

Just take your time and have fun with it. The nice thing about all those dupes is you can unload them first if you can't decide on keeping or selling. I would probably get anything you are going to sell graded for sure.

If you could list which 1911 Zeenuts you have, it would be appreciated. There are several guys here chasing that set, Steve, Peter, Brian, and myself among others so it would be great to know which cards you might have for sale on ebay or auction.
One suggestion- in memory of your grandfather and uncle you might consider keeping the 1911 Obaks together as a set as you are so close to completing it. The missing cards are available with time and patience although if you are lacking the Weaver and Ten Million cards it will cost you more than the average card. I'd hate to see you sell all the cards and then someday regret not having any of the group left.

I couldn't agree more. I'd also think about subscribing to Vintage Card Prices as well.

new
 

Congratulations!!!
Memories are priceless, as you well know, so spend some time reflecting on
what you'd like to keep for the sake of memories, then move forward to
considerations such as what you'd like to keep for your own collection and for selling. Breathe deeply,quietly, measuredly along the way when the frenetic takes hold.
best,
barry

we want pics! :)

WoW, Congrats that is amazing, always glad to hear stories like that and I agree take your time and enjoy them.