The AntiquesRoadshow Boston Red Stockings appraisal airs...

[Fred]

Article about the show:

Monday night's episode of "Antiques Roadshow" saw one of the most valuable archives ever seen on the show.

A rare photographic baseball card collection of the Boston Red Stockings worth at least $1 million.

"If you're going to insure it, I would insure it for at least $1 million," said appraiser Leila Dunbar on "Antiques Roadshow."

"Are you serious? Oh my!" said the collection's owner.

Yes, this lucky lady inherited the collection of 1871 baseball cards from her great-great-grandmother, who housed the Boston baseball team in her boardinghouse for a short time.

She told the "Antiques Roadshow" appraiser most of the players came from the Cincinnati Red Stockings and were some of the first to get paid to play baseball.

Among those players were Harry and George Wright and sporting goods king Albert Spaulding. Talk about some famous people!

And addition to the cards, the owner also inherited a letter in which all of the players wrote a short, personal message to her great-great-grandmother and signed.

The appraiser said the signatures on the letter accounted for a big chunk of that $1 million price tag.
Fans of the show on Twitter couldn't believe how much the card collection ended up being worth.

And even the appraiser seemed surprised, calling the archive one of the greatest she's seen on the Roadshow.

But the owner isn't going to cash in on this grand slam of a collection anytime soon - she says she wants to keep it in the family.