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Posted By: Joann

I think it's a mathematical anomaly, but not necessarily a practical anomaly. Meaning that the mathematical rarity has an underlying reason. It gets to what Jay said - as the card gets big dollars people that have them around (not in the "organized hobby") are bringing them into the open. Once they are in collectors' hands it may settle down.

Which gets to Barry's correct point that they may not be as rare as we think. Perceived rarity is based on known cards, and known cards are usually in well-known hands. There could be many more in non-collecting, family hands that we don't know about. Just because of it's size, picture of Ruth and schedule on the back it may have survived for more reasons than just a small innocuous looking tobacco card.

As far as word-of-mouth on sales, this card is probably much easier to describe. Someone could say that an old blue-looking thing with a Baltimore schedule and Babe Ruth's picture sold for $200K and anyone that owned one would know immediately that they probably had one. If someone said it was some old sepia picture of some guy with a tobacco ad, a casual owner might not zero in as quickly and realize what they had.

It makes you wonder what other so-called rarities could suddenly become less rare if they were getting $200K a pop at well-known national auctions.

Joann