A photo album bought for under $100 at a yard sale in Baileyville, Maine contained an 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics team photograph mounted on a card — an item the Library of Congress has called the first dated baseball card. The card later sold for $92,000 at a 2013 Saco River Auction Co. sale.
The buyer, who was not identified, purchased the album along with old Coca-Cola bottles and a couple of oak chairs. The image shows nine players gathered around their manager, a formal group portrait from baseball's amateur era.
A rare surviving copy
The Library of Congress, in its book “Baseball Americana,” calls the 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics photograph the first dated baseball card. The institution said it was aware of only two copies in existence, with the other held in its own collection.
Unlike the mass-produced cards that became common in the 1880s, the item was an original 1865 photograph mounted on card stock.
Authentication and sale
Sportscard Guaranty LLC (SGC) authenticated the card, according to Bob Luce, a senior grader at the New Jersey company. The sale took place on February 6, 2013, at Saco River Auction Co. in Biddeford, Maine.
Troy Thibodeau, the manager and auctioneer, said bidding started at $10,000. The card ultimately sold for $92,000, including an 18% buyer's premium, while NPR separately reported an $80,000 hammer price.
A championship club
The Brooklyn Atlantics won league championships in 1861, 1864 and 1865, making the card a record of a dominant amateur club from the Civil War era.
The numbers are plain: a yard-sale bundle priced under $100 turned into a documented piece of baseball history that changed hands for $92,000 on February 6, 2013.
