Man’s Valuable 88,500 Sports Card Collection Set to Go Under the Hammer

A valuable collection of 88,500 baseball and sports cards is set to be auctioned off and could potentially fetch millions of dollars. The collection belonged to William Squire, a passionate sports fan from Michigan, US, who collected basketball, football, hockey, and baseball cards until his death in 2009.

William would buy and trade cards, and even visit stadiums to get them signed by renowned athletes like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal. His hobby brought him immense happiness, as recalled by his daughter Coreen Squire. She fondly remembers him sitting at the kitchen table, looking at his cards and finding joy in them.

However, when William passed away at the age of 75, his family was left with a collection spanning over 40 years of trading cards. They discovered over 50,000 baseball cards, 22,000 football cards, 8,000 hockey cards, and 7,000 basketball cards tucked away in closets and boxes.

Coreen attempted to sell some of the collection at the Gibraltar Trade Centre, but despite being told by dealers that there were valuable cards, she couldn’t find a buyer willing to pay the $500 she was asking for. Frustrated, she decided to donate the cards to the Centre for Active Adults in South Lyon, Michigan.

The Centre plans to sell the cards in a silent bid auction in mid-May and has already received overwhelming interest. Carrie Cavanaugh, the director of the non-profit centre, is now tasked with finding a new home for the collection. She admits that it’s a daunting task but believes there may be hidden gems in the collection that could fetch a significant sum.

Leila Dunbar, an expert on collectibles and sports memorabilia, has been astounded by the size of the collection. While she has seen numerous collections ranging in the tens of thousands, she has never come across one as extensive as this.

The auction of William Squire’s sports card collection is eagerly awaited by collectors and enthusiasts alike, as they anticipate the discovery of valuable and rare cards that could potentially fetch a substantial amount of money.