Man believes his $2 Pawn Shop Babe Ruth baseball card find is worth millions...

[ARC]

A card collector from Visalia believes he's holding the Mona Lisa of baseball cards that only cost him two bucks.

Dale Ball says if his Babe Ruth card turns out to be an original it's worth millions.

The card that has yet to be authenticated is a 1921 Babe Ruth Shotwell E-121 Model. There are only two cards in existence.

Ball bought it at Action Sports and Coin in Sparks, Nevada. "That Babe Ruth there is that $800 or 8 dollars and he said no it's 8 dollars. I said why is it only eight dollars. He says I can't find it anywhere in the magazines.

I think it's fake."

The pawn shop was having an 80 percent mark down sale so he got it for two bucks. Ball didn't want to get his hopes up so he researched the Babe Ruth card online.

"We went at it for three days before we were able to track down that logo on the back of it. And the logo from Shotwell is exactly that logo 100 percent with the dye mark and the water mark."

Ball called the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and told him what he bought. "She told me I want to see that card as fast as you can get it to me. Same thing with every organization that's had the picture sent

to them on this card. They've blown it up and looked for certain things on this card, certain marks."

Fox 26 News took a picture of the card to Matt Mossette's Baseball Cards in Fresno. He believes Professional Sports Authenticators in Newport Beach can decide if it's real or a replica.

"They need to look at it and basically authenticate it. And that's the only way it's gonna be proven that card is real. It's so rare and no one knows anything about it."

Ball may rent the Babe Ruth card to the Hall of Fame but then again. "The only way I would sell this card is for the bidding to start at two million dollars because to me I found the Mona Lisa."

If it's real Ball wants to use the money to help his Mom and Dad retire.

Ball also promised the owner of the pawn shop in Sparks that he'll get a share of the profits if he sells the Babe Ruth card.

https://kutv.com/news/offbeat/visal...lar-babe-ruth-baseball-card-is-worth-millions

 

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[SD51]

Wow and I think about the boxes of baseball cards I had as a kid. My mom decided to throw them all out when I was away at college...

 

[ARC]

Whats cool is that last sentence...

"Ball also promised the owner of the pawn shop in Sparks that he'll get a share of the profits if he sells the Babe Ruth card."

The right thing to do.

Things like this can also smell like a lawsuit at times. heh

 

[ARC]

...

 

[Toecutter]

i just cant fathom why the pawn shop would sell it, even if it is a fake, i mean it takes up very little space and what good would 2$ do.... lol

 

[Lunch Bag]

This is why individuals who suddenly come into money (or think they have) lose it all in short order.

Keep quiet, have it appraised by the most qualified appraiser and sell it quietly.

If this card is genuine every leach he has ever known will suck the last drop out of him.

 

[ARC]

This is why individuals who suddenly come into money (or think they have) lose it all in short order.

Keep quiet, have it appraised by the most qualified appraiser and sell it quietly.

If this card is genuine every leach he has ever known will suck the last drop out of him.

Well if this is truly the case... and he ends up with only 10 dollars in his pocket in the end...

He 5 times his money :P

 

[BigWaveDave]

In 1921 he had become a Yankee, and at that time, I’m sure my great grandfather was still butt hurt that he was no longer a Red Sox player.
So, in the spirit of Yankees Suck, this Sox fan would have not purchased this card.

 

[huntsman53]

Whats cool is that last sentence...

"Ball also promised the owner of the pawn shop in Sparks that he'll get a share of the profits if he sells the Babe Ruth card."

The right thing to do.

Things like this can also smell like a lawsuit at times. heh

If it is genuine and he sells it, I hope he honors what he said.

On another note, I don't see a lawsuit in the works, the Pawn Shop believed the card was a fake and sold it to Ball for $2 at the on sale price. Since he did not steal the card and purchased it legally, I see no likelihood of a lawsuit unless he does not honor his word which is the same as a verbal contract.

 

[Nitric]

Wow!! That would be a cool find!!!

I have mixed feelings on the whole..."I'll give you part of the money" That's a nice thing to do...But I don't consider it the "right" thing to do or that it should be expected. And honestly, I don't think the shop owner should accept the money. As much as I need money, I wouldn't...It doesn't seem "right" to me. depends on how the deal went too..... Like Huntsman said..I don't see how any lawsuit would hold up..But who knows. ....If I give up on research, get lazy, and throw an item out for sale and someone gives me what I ask? It's theirs..done deal. Sure, I'd feel like an idiot for not putting the time and effort in research but not the buyers problem.

Anyhow, if he said he was giving him money when it sells? Hope he holds up to it after saying that. I do agree that if your going to make that offer that he should follow through...even if I think the offer was a nice thing but kind of dumb. They may have a good relationship too, so I guess I shouldn't judge too much....

Added...
I've had the opposite thing happen to me on a much smaller scale, thousands not millions....I sold a collection of American silver cased keywind pocket watches to A guy that had been doing it 3 times longer than I was alive at that time. He was the "expert". I put a price of what I wanted...He looked over it for a few hours, and bought it. A month later I got a call..."you owe me money"....After back and forth, I said "ok, we're friends, pack it up, bring it back and I'll buy it back".......him.."I can't do that!! I already sold half of them." Long story short he sold the stuff too fast, too cheap.Instead of selling each one for it's fair value, he broke it down divided the number of watches into the cost. So, when he put them out for sale of course the buyers bought the best for nothing first or with the highest silver content, then he couldn't recover his cost out of what was left. Which was sad because there was some really good stuff in there that I sold him cheap...he should have more than doubled his money on that deal. , I needed a chunk of money fast and sold the collection to him cheap, it was $25 bucks per watch over silver content across the board(2oz to 6 oz) good with the bad, and still ended over 11 grand his cost(something like that..I don't remember since I was selling all kinds of stuff at that time)...He lost money from being lazy(so did I since I needed it fast)and expected me to pay the difference or make it up on the next sale. Which blew my mind because I really felt that I was hooking him up with some good profit!! I liked the guy before this.....Never dealt with him again!!! He was an old con. and I was told by other guys that he didn't lose, he just figured out that he messed up and was trying to get me to pay him. He could have made money on silver alone., even if he would have scrapped them for the cases and sold the movements cheap...

A guy puts a price, another guy buys, it's a done deal...win or lose. The shop owner is a lucky guy if the buyer does this for him. He shouldn't expect it or accept it unless he's going to make sure that he pays people that he buys from when he sells, or makes sure the buyers don't over pay. And where are those lines, or who decides them?...The amount doesn't mean much to me, 10 bucks or a million, the idea is the same.

Just one of my things that gets me going when this kind of stuff happens. or when people think they got ripped off by selling to a coin dealer/pawn shop, same thing applies all directions...A price was met...done deal...It should not be expected if the buyer makes out from his risk(even if small) and knowledge.$10 or Millions..doesn't matter...Unless, your selling stuff for people, or buying claiming that you are making a certain percentage or something like that That's different..broker type stuff....Ok, this overly long post occupied my boredom for a few minutes pretending I even have half a clue about what I'm talking about.. .

 

[huntsman53]

Wow!! That would be a cool find!!!

I have mixed feelings on the whole..."I'll give you part of the money" That's a nice thing to do...But I don't consider it the "right" thing to do or that it should be expected. And honestly, I don't think the shop owner should accept the money. As much as I need money, I wouldn't...It doesn't seem "right" to me. depends on how the deal went too..... Like Huntsman said..I don't see how any lawsuit would hold up..But who knows. ....If I give up on research, get lazy, and throw an item out for sale and someone gives me what I ask? It's theirs..done deal. Sure, I'd feel like an idiot for not putting the time and effort in research but not the buyers problem.

Anyhow, if he said he was giving him money when it sells? Hope he holds up to it after saying that. I do agree that if your going to make that offer that he should follow through...even if I think the offer was a nice thing but kind of dumb. They may have a good relationship too, so I guess I shouldn't judge too much....

Added...
I've had the opposite thing happen to me on a much smaller scale, thousands not millions....I sold a collection of American silver cased keywind pocket watches to A guy that had been doing it 3 times longer than I was alive at that time. He was the "expert". I put a price of what I wanted...He looked over it for a few hours, and bought it. A month later I got a call..."you owe me money"....After back and forth, I said "ok, we're friends, pack it up, bring it back and I'll buy it back".......him.."I can't do that!! I already sold half of them." Long story short he sold the stuff too fast, too cheap.Instead of selling each one for it's fair value, he broke it down divided the number of watches into the cost. So, when he put them out for sale of course the buyers bought the best for nothing first or with the highest silver content, then he couldn't recover his cost out of what was left. Which was sad because there was some really good stuff in there that I sold him cheap...he should have more than doubled his money on that deal. , I needed a chunk of money fast and sold the collection to him cheap, it was $25 bucks per watch over silver content across the board(2oz to 6 oz) good with the bad, and still ended over 11 grand his cost(something like that..I don't remember since I was selling all kinds of stuff at that time)...He lost money from being lazy(so did I since I needed it fast)and expected me to pay the difference or make it up on the next sale. Which blew my mind because I really felt that I was hooking him up with some good profit!! I liked the guy before this.....Never dealt with him again!!! He was an old con. and I was told by other guys that he didn't lose, he just figured out that he messed up and was trying to get me to pay him. He could have made money on silver alone., even if he would have scrapped them for the cases and sold the movements cheap...

A guy puts a price, another guy buys, it's a done deal...win or lose. The shop owner is a lucky guy if the buyer does this for him. He shouldn't expect it or accept it unless he's going to make sure that he pays people that he buys from when he sells, or makes sure the buyers don't over pay. And where are those lines, or who decides them?...The amount doesn't mean much to me, 10 bucks or a million, the idea is the same.

Just one of my things that gets me going when this kind of stuff happens. or when people think they got ripped off by selling to a coin dealer/pawn shop, same thing applies all directions...A price was met...done deal...It should not be expected if the buyer makes out from his risk(even if small) and knowledge.$10 or Millions..doesn't matter...Unless, your selling stuff for people, or buying claiming that you are making a certain percentage or something like that That's different..broker type stuff....Ok, this overly long post occupied my boredom for a few minutes pretending I even have half a clue about what I'm talking about.. .

Okay Nitric, you had your rant, now here is mine!

First, I believe that the Buyer should honor his word to the Seller or Pawn Shop and give them some money if the card is in fact genuine and sells for big money. I kind of view it to be similar to a store selling Lottery tickets and one of their customers wins big, so the Lottery pays the store a percentage based on the amount of the won prize.

Second, I Cherry Picked a 1911-P "Matte Proof" Lincoln Wheat Cent in PF-58 Brown off eBay almost 15 years ago and got it for around $8 with shipping. A few weeks later, I attended a Coin Club meeting where a younger but knowledgeable Coin Dealer just happened to be there as well who I really liked at the time due to his knowledge of coins and who also happened to be going through a really rough patch of life and luck. See, his' wife at the time was a drug addict and she stole all of his' coins and sold them off at numerous Pawn Shops and to Coin Dealers to buy drugs. The Coin Dealer was able to find a few of the coins she sold and get them back with the aid of Law Enforcement and the Courts but he was really struggling. Well, I know that he was really into the type of coins that I had Cherry Picked, so I showed it too him. His' eyes lit up and got real big and he said what would you take for it. I said to him that the coin is worth $300+ plus at the time and I was asking for $250 OBO for the coin. He said, would you take $185 for the coin because I can't afford much more right now and am trying to reestablish some inventory. He never did go into the story about his' wife stealing the coins but I said, I know about your situation and to help you out, I will sell it to you for $135. Well, he purchased the coin and I never saw him again until last year at another but different Coin Club meeting which was almost 15 years later. He had a lot of what we term as Junk Silver Coins in bags that he was selling and I told him that I would like to purchase quite a bit of Silver Coins and asked if he could cut me a break as I really need to make some money to pay on bills and auto repairs. He said that he could not cut me a break and was selling all of the Silver for the prices on the bags. While I don't like doing so, I reminded him of when I sold him the 1911-P "Matte Proof" Lincoln Cent but he just looked the other way and ignored me. Well, no matter what coin or coins I have in the future and if he ventures by my' tables at a Flea Market and wants to purchase some, I will tell him that I will no longer sell to him, so go get you some coins somewhere else. If he asks why I won't sell to him, then I will tell him to search your memory banks and hopefully you will find the answer.

 

[A2coins]

That would be crazy I recently hesrd someone found a Honus Wagner card in thier ceiling its always someone else