Posted By:
PaulWe always talk about exploding prices in the abstract, but I thought I would put some meat on the bones.
I bought a very nice VG E107 George Davis about 2 years ago for about $550 (maybe it was $600, I can't remember). This was the full asking price from a board member / collector / dealer. I know Davis is no Lajoie, but I think he must be fairly comparable to Chesbro. So if recent sales are any indication, this card would now sell for about 10K. (Sadly, I traded it). That's a 20-fold increase in 2 years.
At the same time, I purchased a McGraw for the same price, though it is in much lower condition. A few months later, I purchased a Jimmy Collins with one badly trimmed border (but otherwise quite nice for an E107) for a little over $200. Given their condition, I can't use the recent sales of the Chesbro and Lajoie as an accurate guide to their value. But I think it's fair to say that you couldn't buy the lower left corner of an E107 Collins for $200 today.