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Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb Headline Vintage Baseball Postcard Collection

Only 53 of These Rare Cards Had Been Graded by PSA. We Introduce You to 20 more!

January 06, 2023

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Found inside of an old secretary's desk in 1979 and stored away for decades, these very rare 1910 PC796 Baseball Postcards have been discovered and proudly purchased by Just Collect. Featuring legendary baseball players Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and other all-time greats, wait until you read just how rare the PC796 set is. We also have a video of the collection for you to watch!

THE DISCOVERY

In 1979, Berkley and his wife began the cleanup of a home with other members of his family. When most of the family took the front of the house, Berkley started with the back of the house. In the bedroom he was cleaning out a secretary desk, and inside of the desk was a tin. The tin held a stack of cards with baseball players on the front. Knowing nothing more than the fact the cards were "old" and he recognized the names on the front, Berkley wisely made the choice to hold onto the collection while other family members opted to sell items from the house at flea markets. Berkley tried to research the cards but came up empty. Remember, in 1979 there was no Internet; you could not search Google or ask Alexa about vintage baseball cards. In the early 1980's, Berkley took the cards he found to local card shows but none of the dealers he met knew what to make of the collection. Rather than selling the cards, they were placed inside a lock box. Not a safe, but a homestyle lock box where you'd find old love letters from when you and the better half started dating.

Nearly a decade later, during a trip home, Berkley had his son take a closer look at the cards. Armed with that new technology called 'The Internet', Berkley and his son were able to find out that those cards he'd gotten from that secretary desk were now worth several thousand dollars. Knowing that he made the right call not to sell the cards so quickly, Berkley put the cards back into his lock box, waiting for the right moment to bring back this little relic of the past.

FINDING JUST COLLECT

Now in 2022, Berkley and his wife began the process of downsizing their home. Wondering what to do with the card collection, his nephew mentioned he had previously sold a collection of cards to us here at Just Collect. We offer a free appraisal right on our website, and have a spot for you to upload images of your cards. Berkley provided his information, and after hearing the story, we contacted Berkley and his wife to arrange a visit here at our office in Millburn, NJ.

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When we asked how safe the family "lock box" was, we were told the cards are lucky they've survived all of these years! Each card had been placed in a sandwich baggie and then inside of an envelope. As our owner, Leighton, took each card out, he realized what a true find discovery this was!

1910 PC796 POSTCARD COLLECTION

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Made in 1910, the PC796 Sepia Postcards are 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" and are true postcards. Meant to be filled out and mailed to friends and family over 100 years ago. What makes this collection so incredible is that neither of these cards have been filled out! No addresses, notes, or stamps; each card has a clean back. So little is known about the origin of the set that to this day, nobody in the industry knows the manufacturer of the cards. The PC796 name was given to the cards by the American Card Catalog. One thing we do know for certain are the names of players in the set!

The PC796 set consists of 25 cards including:

Ty Cobb
Honus Wagner
Tris Speaker
Christy Mathewson
Walter Johnson
Eddie Plank

Here are the cards of these all-time great players:

How rare are these cards? Currently, the PSA population report has only 53 cards from this set graded on their registry. Just 53 cards in total have been graded. When we finished opening each envelope that Berkley brought into the Just Collect store, there were 20 new cards, fresh to the hobby. Our owner, Leighton, has never had more than TWO PC796 cards at one time.

These cards were released when Arizona wasn't a State yet (1912), a Feature Film didn't exist (Oliver Twist, 1912), and Babe Ruth hadn't even played in his first baseball game yet (July 11th, 1914).

Our favorite card in the set is the Ty Cobb and "Honas" Wagner shaking hands. Wagner's name is not spelled correctly! These two legends are shaking hands before the 1909 World Series in that picture.

Wagner Cobb

THE OFFER AND SALE

After reviewing the collection, we made Berkley and his wife a fair offer that they accepted. When you sell your collection to us here at Just Collect, we pay you how you want to be paid. Whether a check, cash, money order, or a brand new safety deposit box that is more secure that your old family lock box, we are here for you.

Remember Berkley's nephew that recommended using us here at Just Collect? His name is Scott, and we are also going to pay him a finder's fee! Scott does not know this yet, but Berkley and his wife will surprise Scott with the good news when they return to their home in Pennsylvania.

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VIDEO OF BERKLEY AND THE 1910 PC796 POSTCARD COLLECTION

Make sure to check inside the next secretary desk you find; vintage cards could be hiding in unexpected places! Berkley sure is glad he checked.

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want to be appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer many ways to evaluate your cards other than using our website, too.

Travel to us

If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.

Come to a convention

We keep a LIST of the card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out. We recently took a trip to California to purchase a collection that included three Jackie Robinson 1948 Leaf rookie cards that you can read about here.

Meet in New York City

We have another location in New York you can meet us at; read all the information here.

SHIP your collection

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back with shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.

Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!