1914 Cracker Jack Baseball Cards
Appraised Value:
$30,000 - $40,000
IMAGE: 1 of 3
Appraisal Video: (2:28)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: They are my husband's dad's collection that we were given after he died, and my husband was the youngest son in the family, so he got them. We've had them for about 30 years, and I have two sons, and so they've enjoyed looking at them and we feel like they are part of our family. I know that he collected them. He had three brothers, and Uncle Harry told me that they didn't eat all the Cracker Jacks, that under the grandstands, they collected the boxes and then got the cards.
APPRAISER: Okay, okay. So you know a little bit about Cracker Jack cards.
GUEST: I know that Cracker Jacks began in the, like, 1897 or in the late 1890s. And these were probably some of the first cards, I believe.
APPRAISER: Okay, well, let me tell you a little bit about Cracker Jack baseball cards.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: They came out with two sets in that time period-- 1914 and 1915. And the difference is big for collectors. 1914, you had to buy a box of Cracker Jacks and pull the card out. In 1915, you could order the full set of cards.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And as I went through the cards in this particular album, you've got several Hall of Famers. There were some great Hall of Famers in those sets. You've got Joe Jackson in there. You've got Ty Cobb, you've got Honus Wagner. But there's one card that really makes it a spectacular collection of Cracker Jacks.
GUEST: Do I have it?
APPRAISER: And you do have it. (cheers) And that card is the Christy Mathewson. And this card is a 1914 Christy Mathewson card. In 1915 is a different pose-- it's a head shot. And you have the pitching pose from 1914 and by far the most scarce Cracker Jack card out of both sets.
GUEST: Huh.
APPRAISER: Which makes me believe a lot of these are 1914 Cracker Jacks. Adding this up and looking through the album, based on the condition, at auction, as is, this album is worth $30,000 to $40,000.
GUEST: Yow...!
APPRAISER: You like that?
GUEST: Oh, the kids are going to be on this right away.
APPRAISER: So you get a Cracker Jack surprise. They've always promised that, right? (laughing) Now, if the cards were not mounted in the album, they'd be more valuable. So if the 1914 Mathewson, for instance, was not mounted in the condition I'm seeing in the album, that card alone would be worth over $20,000, $30,000.
GUEST: Wow.
