Per Phil Helsel of NBC News, a crumpled paper bag found in a dilapidated house was found out to contain seven Ty Cobb baseball cards worth over a million dollars. The cards were printed between 1909-11.
The Cobb card comes from the T206 set, which also contains the Honus Wagner card, which is the most valuable baseball card. Wagner had production of his cards stopped because, at the time, baseball card packs came with tobacco, and he didn’t want kids to have to buy tobacco to get his card.
As for the Cobb card, the family that discovered it has asked to remain anonymous. They were met with skepticism when they told people -- including publicists and card dealers -- of their discovery. Rick Snyder of MINT State Inc. said, “I doubted they were authentic because finding seven of these cards at one place at one time seemed almost impossible.”
The back of the Cobb card reads in green ink, “TY COBB -- KING OF THE SMOKING TOBACCO WORLD”. How times have changed.
Cobb is a Hall of Famer and considered one of the greatest hitters to ever live. He spent the first 22 years of his career (1905-26) with the Tigers and the last two with the Philadelphia Athletics. His .366 career batting average is the highest in baseball history. Cobb is perhaps known just as well for being a violent and racist man.