1948 Leaf Baseball Cards
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GUEST:
They were my dad's. I found them in the cigar box that you see in the back of the closet under a stack of sweaters.
APPRAISER:
Mm. The proverbial cigar box.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Yes.
APPRAISER:
Where kids, uh, for time immemorial put their cards...
GUEST:
And their treasures.
GUEST:
...and marbles and jacks, whatever.
APPRAISER:
This is the 1948 Leaf card set.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's not a very common card set. How old would your father have been around this time?
GUEST:
What year did you say?
APPRAISER:
This is 1948.
GUEST:
Uh, he would have been about 12, 13.
APPRAISER:
He obviously kept his cards nice.
GUEST:
He, uh... He, yeah, he loved sports, and, and he was a tidy person in that way. Everything in order, that kind of thing.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, and it shows, because, uh, you know, here we are, decades and decades out, and these look, uh, as they say, pack-fresh.
GUEST:
Oh, good.
APPRAISER:
Great, beautiful color. And, um, you know, that's what we love to see, and that's what collectors love to see.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So the 1948 Leaf set has always been interesting 'cause it has a, a lot of different types of rookie cards. 1948 was kinda one of the first years after the war that, uh, that a card set was produced. So there were a lot of rookies in that set.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Um, and then, it's an interesting set because, uh, we have guys who were in the war coming back, let's say, Ted Williams.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And then you also have, um, all-time greats that they put in the set, as well, like Babe Ruth and, and this gentleman right here. Now, you've heard of Honus Wagner.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
We've talked about the Honus Wagner card.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
This is a Honus Wagner card. He's John Wagner. Now, it's not...
GUEST:
Not "the"...
APPRAISER:
..."the" Honus Wagner card...
GUEST:
(chuckling): Okay.
APPRAISER:
...but this is Honus Wagner. It's a nice card.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And a card like that, in that condition, is probably worth about $500.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Not bad, right?
GUEST:
(chuckling): No.
APPRAISER:
I mentioned Ted Williams. Ted Williams had come back from the war. Um, he had some cards before the war, but this was kind of one of his earliest cards when he was back. And this is a very popular issue and a very great image of the Splendid Splinter here.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
And you have four of them, right?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And, uh, these are great and very collectible. And in this type of condition, they could go anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 each.
GUEST:
Each?
APPRAISER:
Each.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
That's not bad.
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
Right? Then we have Joe DiMaggio.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
He was also away during the war. He came back, and, uh, had a couple of years left in the league. And we have four of those, as well. And these generally sell in between $2,500 and $3,000 each.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
So you see where we're going with this.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Yes.
APPRAISER:
Uh, and what's nice and interesting here, you can see there's a color variation in there. And this is something you see in this set, is that sometimes they change the color as they were printing them.
GUEST:
So it's not a mistake, it was just a choice.
APPRAISER:
Just-- or, or maybe they just ran out of a certain color...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...and they just kept printing. Now... (exhales): Rookie cards. Stan Musial, great Hall of Famer.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
You have four of his rookie cards right there. Those sell somewhere in the $3,000 range each.
GUEST:
(quietly): Geez.
APPRAISER:
Each.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Okay.
APPRAISER:
All right? And now we go to the all-time great, Babe Ruth.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You have six of them, they look great. Those sell around $3,000 each.
GUEST:
(quietly): Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
But here we go.
GUEST:
All right.
APPRAISER:
The most important card in the set.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The rookie card of one of the most important people of the 20th century, Jackie Robinson. This is his, considered his rookie card.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
You have three of them.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Which is great, because these sell for between $15,000 and $20,000 each.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Oh, my God.
APPRAISER:
All right?
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And you got three of those.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Now, you also have a stack...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...of other cards here.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And there are rookie cards in there. Not along the same lines as these guys...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...but really good cards. You do the math, you got something very significant here.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Yeah?
APPRAISER:
I would put an insurance estimate on just these 1948 Leaf cards, the whole collection here, of $150,000.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Oh, my God. Okay, well, I guess a safety deposit box instead of a bureau.
APPRAISER:
Just for all the viewers out there who are, like... These are not tacks. (chuckles) These are magnets.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER:
(laughing): They don't touch the cards. They, they just hold them up.
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