The 1888-89 Old Judge cabinet card of 19th century Hall of Famer Mike "King" Kelly found in an old trunk sold at auction Wednesday afternoon for $71,200.
The live sale, 
conducted by Saco River Auctions, located in the appropriately named town of Biddeford, ME, drew a small crowd of locals, but also several phone bidders from across the country. The card was one of several N173's sold by the company after they were consigned by an unidentified man from Kennebunk who had purchased them with the trunk and figured they might be worth something.
The auction received limited publicity, with only our story posted late Sunday night and a couple of others in Maine media bringing the card's existence to light.
Saco River Auctions had a seven-line phone bank set up to handle an expected rush of bidders and while it's not known how many were in on the action, the winner was said to be a collector from the southeast. It took a few seconds for auctioneer Floyd Hartford to get an opening bid but then it was off to the races:
The N173 Old Judge cards are oversized premiums that were distributed as part of a mail in offer through the company's tobacco products. The Kelly card was among the nicest of the group of seven cards that were found and consigned to the auction. The others sold for about $40,000 combined and included:
Joe Quinn= 55 or 4.5 VG/EX
Charlie Bennett= 60 or 5 EX
John Clarkson= 60 or 5 EX
Pop Smith+ 60 or 5 EX
Dan Brouthers= 40 or VG 3
Billy Nash=70 Ex+ 5.5
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 6 1887 N172 OLD JUDGE CIGARETTES ACTRESSES SGC GOODWIN CO TOBACCO TRADE CARDS $400.00 Time Remaining: 15h 17m Buy It Now for only: $400.00 |
 1887 Old Judge Cigarettes Mike Slattery SGC 50 4 N172 New York $275.00 Time Remaining: 15h 31m Buy It Now for only: $275.00 |
 1887 Old Judge Cigarettes George Sleepy Townsend SGC 40 3 N172 Athletics $240.00 Time Remaining: 15h 31m Buy It Now for only: $240.00 |
 1887 Old Judge Cigarettes Emmett Seery SGC 50 4 N172 Indianapolis $275.00 Time Remaining: 15h 31m Buy It Now for only: $275.00 |
 1887 OLD JUDGE N172 CHRIS VON DER AHE SGC A $300.00 Time Remaining: 20h 52m Buy It Now for only: $300.00 |
 1887 OLD JUDGE NI72 BILL WATKINS CARDINAL MGRSGC A $300.00 Time Remaining: 20h 53m Buy It Now for only: $300.00 |
 1887 OLD JUDGE N172 BOBBY GILKS SGC 10 Cleveland Nice Front $195.00 Time Remaining: 1d 5h 32m Buy It Now for only: $195.00 |
 1887 Old Judge N172 Dan Casey SGC 50 4 VGEX $348.75 Time Remaining: 2d 10h 5m Buy It Now for only: $348.75 |
 1887 OLD JUDGE N172 THOMAS BROWN RC SGC A $200.00 Time Remaining: 2d 13h 44m Buy It Now for only: $200.00 |
[...] 2) King Kelly Cabinet Card Found by Antique Picker [...]