First batch of 'Portland trove' vintage baseball cards sells for $200,000
The first of several batches of vintage baseball cards from the "Portland trove" collection were sold for about $200,000 at auction this week.
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
Earlier this week, the first batch of cards from what is being called the "Portland trove" collection sold at auction for approximately $200,000, according to Associated Press. The collection is being sold by a family in Portland that wants to remain anonymous.
Auctioneer Troy Thibodeau said roughly 1,400 total cards from the 1909-11 era are for sale. They are being sold in installments with the next auction scheduled for February 18. Here's more from the Associated Press:
RaeLyn Hartford, a spokeswoman for Saco River Auction Co., said a glass negative of T.B. Doran, who played third base for the Omaha Omahogs and Omaha Lambs from 1887 to 1889, was the most expensive item auctioned Wednesday, fetching $4,900.
The highest selling baseball card was a 1909-11 portrait of Cobb, which sold for $3,700.
Ty Cobb and Cy Young were among the Hall of Famers depicted on some of the cards sold this week. The cards feature color lithographs on the front and tobacco advertisements on the back.
“These are truly pieces of art. They’re colorful, they’re bright, they’re folky, they’re Americana,” said Thibodeau to the Associated Press.
Approximately 75 people attended the auction with some traveling from as far as California. Others -- including the "big bidders," according to Hartford -- were on the phone.
Only 212 cards were sold earlier this week, so there are still many more batches to be sold. The "Portland trove" sure seems like a seven-figure collection of baseball cards.
