When it comes to sports memorabilia many people are obsessed. We can all remember our youth spent collecting stickers, cards or jerseys from our favorite sport. As a fan of English Premier League football, I got a sticker book every year and did whatever I had to do, whether it was beg, borrow, or steal to get that book full. To date, I still have a sticker book in my parent’s home that I refuse to throw out. Today it is worth nothing but someday it could be worth millions.
Ok, I admit, the chances of it ever being worth millions are pretty slim. However, some sports memorabilia really can earn you a lot of money. For some reason, baseball cards stand out as one of the leading memorabilia in terms of value. This is likely because they have been around almost as long as the sport. There are some cards today that are over one hundred years old and really are worth millions.
The most valuable baseball card in the world is a player named Honus Wagner. The card dates back to 1909. Honus Wagner is said to be one of the greatest players of all time with many saying he was the best ever shortstop. In his career spanning 20 years, he hit over 100 home runs and had a batting average of .328. In 1909 his team won the World Series.
The incredible stats of the player and the significance of the year in his career make the card worth a lot of money. However, the age, rarity and pristine condition are what makes it worth so much. The card sold at auction for an incredible $3.12 million. Amazingly the previous record was also held by a 1909 Honus Wagner card, which had sold for $2.8 million in 2007.
The current card is often called the Gretzky Wagner card because the legendary hockey player Wayne Gretsky once owned it although the current owner is Ken Kendrick the man who owns the Diamondbacks team from Arizona.
If you do collect baseball cards then you too could be sitting on millions. Some cards that are a lot newer also sell for a lot of money. The 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card is estimated to be worth over half a million dollars. The 1952 Mick Mantle is said to be worth closer to $2.5 million. If you can go for older cards, it definitely helps. A card with the greatest player of all time, Babe Ruth, on it could fetch up to $1.5 million.
Whether you collect baseball cards or something else the key to a high valuation is excellent condition and rarity. Hold on to your beloved memorabilia for a long time and it could be worth millions in the future. Of course, the other key factor is demand. The card has to be wanted to be worth something. Predicting that future demand is what is really difficult because we can’t keep every piece of sports memorabilia that we come across and picking winners is not easy.
If you do have any old cards lying around your house make sure you check them with an auction house for a valuation. You could be sitting on an absolute fortune. If not, you could be like me and stuck with a sticker book for the rest of your life. Still, even if it doesn’t make you millions it is worth its weight in gold for the memories it will provide you as you flick through the pages in your later years, or at least that is what I have to tell myself.
