Antiques Roadshow kicked off its new season Monday night with a segment about a previously unknown collection of 19th century baseball memorabilia we wrote about last year. For insurance purposes, PBS officials offered a $1 million estimate when they announced the show’s taping last year, but it’s unlikely they would sell for that much at auction.
The segment was taped on Roadshow’s first trip to New York City in 13 years. It reveals the largest sports memorabilia find in the 19-year history of the series: an archive of rare Mort Rogers Scorecards with a handwritten letter from the 1871-1872 Boston Red Stockings.
Rogers, a former player, pasted the photos onto the front and put a scorecard on the back which was designed to be folded in half, with one team represented on each half. They were offered for sale at Boston’s South End Grounds.
The letter was addressed to the owner’s great-great-grandmother, who ran the boarding house that homed the team and features notes from pioneering Hall of Famers Harry Wright, George Wright and Albert Spalding.
After writing their personal thank you notes on stationery, the players signed their names, presumably while on a road trip.
Roadshow’s New York taping also included appraisals of a Joseph Kleitsch painting valued at $500,000 and another baseball card collection worth $200,000.
Watch the segment below:
And here’s a “post game” interview with the owner:
However, Keith Olbermann, noted card collector and host of his own show on ESPN, had some issues with what the appraiser was saying about the collection:
No word on what will happen to the collection, but one could reasonably expect to see them at auction soon.
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