Unaccounted for Attic Finds, Garage Finds, Thrift Store Finds

[zljones]

As far as cards or other collectibles found within walls of old homes, or in attics or basements, I would think that those that are doing the remodeling or the buyers of an older home would definatly take a lot of consideration if they found old Baseball cards in the wall or basement or attic. It is now common knowledge to most people that Baseball cards can be valuable. I just do not see these remodeled homes havings tons of old cards that were thrown away by present day construction workers or home owners finding them in the basement or attic. I would think most of them would want to attempt to cash in on the cards. Even if they did not know they found cards, they can at least see that these are very old antique items and try to get them appraised. I am sure there are cases of cards getting thrown out in newly purchases or remodeled older homes, but I do not think it is widespread.

[ctownboy]

I don't know, there are some dumb/ignorant people out there.

For example, about six years ago, my (now ex) Brother-in-Law called me and asked if I could look at some old coins and currency. He said a guy in his old neighborhood had inherited them and was using them to buy soft drinks and cigarettes with. I agreed to look at them and he came over to the house.

The collection included some pennies and nickels but for the most part, it was silver dimes and quarters with a few half dollars, dollars and two gold pieces.

All told, there was a little over $300 dollars in face value. My ex-BIL paid something like $450 for everything. I told him to hang onto some of the stuff but he wanted to cash out. So, he took the collection to a coin dealer and was paid a little over $3,000 for everything.

Silver was about $9 dollars an ounce back then so if he had held on then that $3,000 would be more like $12,000 today.

My point is, people "should" know that things are valuable but often times they don't. Considering more people collect coins than cards and there is more info out there about old coins, my ex-BIL never should have been able to buy that collection so cheaply. But, he did.

So, I can imagine an older person (or their descendants) finding a stash of small baseball cards and not thinking much about them because they are not as big as baseball cards today. Even more likely, I can see them finding old, empty wrappers or boxes and throwing them away as trash.

I imagine non-sports cards are thrown away at an even larger rate.

David

[Clutch-Hitter]

In 6th grade, a new kid showed up and overheard some of us talking baseball He said his family just moved to a house and found a small box of cards in the attic. I was collecting the current 85 topps and donruss, with a few very old and treasured 78, 79 topps. I told him 10.00 for the box, unseen, and he agreed. Brought it the next day, approx 50 cards, all junk commons, very old for me though, except for the last card: 63 Rose rookie in fr-gd (ex-mt to me back then). I told him about the card and was glad he said deal is a deal. Couldn't wait to get home to tell my dad...Later used the cash from selling that to buy a Ruth w515 from teletrade, which was a dream card considering I always wondered aloud to friends if there was any such thing as a real ruth card from his playing days...wish i still had the rose, but i do have my 82 fleer Hrabosky error card.

Think landfills contain more than will actually be found?

[wolf441]

Originally Posted by zljones

As far as cards or other collectibles found within walls of old homes, or in attics or basements, I would think that those that are doing the remodeling or the buyers of an older home would definatly take a lot of consideration if they found old Baseball cards in the wall or basement or attic. It is now common knowledge to most people that Baseball cards can be valuable. I just do not see these remodeled homes havings tons of old cards that were thrown away by present day construction workers or home owners finding them in the basement or attic. I would think most of them would want to attempt to cash in on the cards. Even if they did not know they found cards, they can at least see that these are very old antique items and try to get them appraised. I am sure there are cases of cards getting thrown out in newly purchases or remodeled older homes, but I do not think it is widespread.

I agree that if the remodelers actually found the cards, they would definitely try to cash in. My point is that for the most part, wall spaces and floor boards do not contain trash/treasures, so unless the cards were noticed among the wood, plaster, etc during the demo, there is a good chance that some old trashed cigarette packs with cards included could get tossed in the dumpster with the rest of the debris. I'm always rooting for new finds, I just think that there are cases where possible finds are getting missed and destroyed.

[judsonhamlin]

This gives me an idea - dump a bunch of my 1987 Topps cards behind some wall from our attic and 40 years from now someone remodeling our house can find them. Won't be worth anything even then, but they'll think it's cool

[zljones]

Originally Posted by wolf441

I agree that if the remodelers actually found the cards, they would definitely try to cash in. My point is that for the most part, wall spaces and floor boards do not contain trash/treasures, so unless the cards were noticed among the wood, plaster, etc during the demo, there is a good chance that some old trashed cigarette packs with cards included could get tossed in the dumpster with the rest of the debris. I'm always rooting for new finds, I just think that there are cases where possible finds are getting missed and destroyed.

Yes indeed I can see that happening

[Tabe]

So what are some of the other recent finds? I know about the Black Swamp find but what about other ones? Details on the cards in them would be great, if possible.

Tabe

[biggsdaddycool]

I'm sure...that #1 all of these population reports are all boogered up (or in the very near future will be) by all of the cracking and regrading, which could lead to population manipulation and eventual market manipulation, and #2 that up to 80% of all collectors have non-graded or not previously publicly seen cards.

I live in a relatively rural area and I know of several major collectors from the 80's who have plenty of vintage that they are just sitting on, and yes, those collection include high grade non-graded material. I know of more than one former major dealer who were out before grading got popular with safe deposit boxes full of high grade vintage.

Trust me...there is a lot out there that has not been publicly seen. A lot. These population reports aren't the end all beat all, ya know. Take them with a grain of salt.