1914 Cracker Jack collection find

Hello everyone, I am new to this site, and am hoping you can help me out. I collect stamps, & recently purchased a box of very old letters from an estate sale. In one of the envelopes I found (20) 1914 Cracker Jack baseball cards. I would say they range from excellent, very good to poor conditions. I was hoping you could tell me what they could be worth (ball park figure). Would I maximize my profits by selling them as a collection or individual? What is a good auction to have them consigned?

I will be sending one out to get authenticated and graded soon, and if everything checks out good, I will have them all checked and graded.

Does PSA grading get you a higher return? Thanks in advance for the help

This is what I have….1914 Cracker Jack cards. I can send photos if needed.

1- #51 NAPOLEON RUCKER
1- #16 HOWARD CAMNITZ
1- #65 TRISTRAM SPEAKER
1- #14 SAMUEL EARL CRAWFORD
1- #22 JOSEPH WOOD
1- #19 CHARLES ALBERT BENDER
1- #88 CHRISTOPHER MATHEWSON
1- #92 ALBERT WENTWORTH DEMAREE
1- #32 MORDECAI BROWN
1- #30 TYRUS RAYMOND COBB
1- #64 JAMES P. ARCHER
1- #90 FRANK E. SMITH
1- #117 THEODORE H. EASTERLY
1- #27 WILLIAM CARRIGAN
2- #108 SHERWOOD R. MAGEE
2- #9 ARTHURE F. HOFMAN
2- #11 GEORGE T. STOVAL

Hi Fernie, if what you have there are authentic 1914 CJ's, then you have a VERY valuable group of cards on your hands. But we won't know anything until we see some scans. Send any pics you have to benfisher77@gmail.com and I'd be happy to post them here and provide an opinion.

Hoping for the best,
Ben

anything is possible...but i'm going to say they're fake before seeing the scans. if real you have a nice coup there with the matty, cobb, and speaker. a poor/fair matty would be easily low to mid 4 figures $$$.

is the mathewson a portrait pose or pitching? scan the 3 cards above and we'll be able to tell if they're real or fake for you right away.

Just a note... the 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jacks can look identical (with a few exceptions like the Matty). A quick way to tell which they are is by looking at the back. If the back is right side up relative to the front, then it is a 1914. If upside down, 1915.

With scans, there are enough experts here to be able to tell you if your cards are legit or if they are reprints / fakes. Just a note of warning... Cracker Jacks are frequently faked, so you'll understand if you see some skepticism here. That said, I think you'll get honest opinions of authenticity by having them posted here.

If the Matty is a legit 1914, that will be your highest dollar card.

most people also mistake the fakes for '14 cjs...as the backs are always right-side up. i'm trying to keep expectations low for the OP, if they're legit more reason to be happy.

a couple scans and we can sort it out right away.

GOOD NEWS!!! They are 100% AUTHENTIC. Feast your eyes on these for starters, I can post individual scans later.

Completely agree, Q. I'm highly skeptical too, but trying to be hopeful for the OP.

(was posted before I saw the scans)

holy $$$hit look at how nice the matty is! if the back is clean that thing looks at least VG+...a nice mid-sized utility sedan right there!

definitely get the big cards graded, by SGC. most auction houses should waive the consignor's fees. put matty and cobb as separate lots....maybe even speaker or joe wood if they're nice. sit back and enjoy the windfall. \\

CONGRATS fernie...where was this estate sale? great find!

Look good to me at first glance. And yes... 1914.

That Matty looks like its in great shape!

Here's a big scan of the Mathewson. WOWIEEEE

Only two grading companies to consider - SGC and PSA. Consider none others. Personally, I like SGC. Definitely sell the Matty separately. It looks like it may have a small crease on the top left and bottom right corner, but that has great eye appeal and will bring some money. Congratulations on a great score!

What a fantastic find. Glad that you chose to unveil them here, where you'll get honest opinions and appraisals re: value and what you should do with them.

If you do sell them, I'd recommend consigning them to Robert Edwards Auctions. They are the best in the business according to a good % of prewar collectors. They will take care of the grading process for you, and you'll be able to negotiate a low consignment fee based on the value of the cards. They are honest professionals and will deal with you over the phone so everything goes over smoothly.

As others have mentioned already, the Mathewson card is the cream of the crop. That card alone is worth $7500 minimum, maybe even up to 10 large. The other cards are nice too, but all of them combined wouldn't equal the value of the Mathewson card alone.

the mathewson card have dropped from its peak value 2-3 years ago...but i think that should grade a 40 on most days, add to the fact it presents tremendously and fresh to the hobby, and it's easily a 12k card maybe even 15k. a few years ago they were going for 16-20k.

As for where to sell them, you have a few options. REA (Robert Edward Auctions) is the gold standard for auctions, but they only have one auction per year and it is in late April / early May. So, you'd have to wait for that one. There are other good options though. I'd consider Goodwin as well. (more frequent and will net a good return too... probably nearly equal.

You will undoubtedly get some offers too. I wouldn't automatically eliminate those. Remember, and auction house is going to get between 15% and 20% of the total price paid for the cards. Selling on a board like this can drop that percentage to 0, but then you wouldn't be selling them in an auction format (where the total realized cost could be much higher or much lower than your expectations).

Incredibly lucky that the Mathewson is one of the nicest conditioned cards in the group

Maybe our new header image stirred up the cracker jack spirits in a few attics?

Must have been a rush opening that old letter and finding a stack of 20 1914 CJ's.

A few more scans...

Congratulations on a fantastic find. More proof that there's a lot of nice stuff still out there not accounted for yet.

Very cool congrats!

I agree with what a lot of folks said. An auction is the way to go. However if you are looking to move faster as folks like REA only do one auction a year. You're timing couldn't have been better with the Natl card show around the corner. I'm sure you can contact REA or some advanced dealers to put you in touch with buyers who would love to buy.

Perhaps some of the guys here can recommend some good dealers/collectors who would be able to buy cards of this value prior to waiting for an auction. Like I said depends on your plans and timing.

Very cool once again congrats I love this stuff!

Cheers,

John

Sweet find, good luck with the sale. One thing not mentioned about REA is that they will give you a cash advance if needed.

If you have not got them already you probably will be contacted privately by people that check the board out if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Lee

Fantastic find, the Matty card is definitely the highlight. Going the auction route is the safest bet to ensure that you receive close to fair market value, but it might not maximize proceeds if a good offer comes along due to the buyer's premium in an auction format. If you do sell them definitely have them graded by PSA or SGC first.

This is what I miss when I go out for slurpies with my girlfriend?!?!

Nice find...I ditto the sentiment on that Matty...super nice, clean card...I'd guess 10-15K...too bad the cobb is a bit dinged...but some of the others are sweet as well. Congrats!!!

Great find. Pretty tough to fake caramel staining and wear like those show.

As other have mentioned, REA is the cream of the crop. If you need money up front, that's not an issue. And as far as I know they still don't charge you a processing fee for the advance like some other auctioin houses do.

I'm not sure why so many people here think this person should use REA for these cards.

Certainly the Mathewson would do well by itself in REA. There's no question about that.

But looking at the rest of these cards, combined they're probably about half what the Mathewson would fetch.

A house like REA would take them all and combined them into a "collector grade" lot of Cracker Jacks that would not do very well. I call these "dump lots" because auction houses just want to dump them. Most of the time they're bought by collectors who take the time to sell them individually and squeeze every penny out.

I'd send the Mathewson off to REA, the Hall of Famers to another auction house who'd agree to list them individually, and then throw the "commons" up on eBay.

Chris, does have a good point worth looking into.

Lee

i share chris' sentiment. if you want max dollars, consing matty to a big auction house. put cobb/speaker/joe wood in a smaller one so they don't get overshadowed. ebay is still a viable option for lesser stuff like the commons. that just means you gotta do more work and grading the cards for yourself.

all this would be moot if wonka want to step up and buy the whole thing...wonkabux>>>auction houses (and no bp)

Agreed. The Matty will not get lost in REA, but the others could. That's why I suggested Goodwin. Ebay for the commons (after grading) is a good way to go too.

Many variables for the OP. If he is in the Chicago area, he could go to the National show and deal with it all in one day.