Recently, with the landmark sale of an early 20th Century T206 Wagner going for $1.26M, a mid-20th century 1954 Hank Aaron selling for upwards of $100K and a late 20th century card of Alex Rodriguez selling for $20K our attention is drawn to the question - what about 19th century items and their values? Logically you would think that early cards would realize the highest prices. Recent sales show an 1887 N173 Old Judge cabinet of King Kelly selling for $13,486, a set of 6 Allen & Ginter N29 baseball players selling for $5,222 and an 1895 Mayo Cut Plug of Anson selling for $2,922. It is my belief that the current prices of 19th century material are at a bargain level. At minimum, I believe these items should increase in value. This can be determined by taking a closer look at what we call the "collectible formula": scarcity + desirability + demand = the price level.

Scarcity- the items couldn't be any scarcer, in most cases there are but few or sometimes only one example that exists; desirability- I believe these items are desirable pieces of history, illustrative of the early beginnings of baseball,photography, lithography and tobacco premiums. Demand, however, has not fully been fully developed yet. This weak link in the formula has resulted from the lack of widespread information about these items. There are few individuals throughout the country that seek this material or even know about it.

As far as condition for 19th Century items, these items are so scarce that condition is less of a factor. A 1909 T206 Doyle in PSA2 Good condition, (few known examples) recently sold in a Mastronet auction for $178,500 Certainly there should be equivalent 19th century examples that should bring a comparable realized price since I believe they exceed the Doyle in terms of desirability.