Back when the first World Series was held in 1903, a program detailing the matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Americans sold for five whole cents.
More than a century later, one of the programs ? only two are known to still exist ? has sold for just a bit more.
That's $241,500 to be exact, a value that was fetched after some competitive bidding facilitated by Hunt Auctions over the weekend in Louisville.
[Hunt Auctions] company president David Hunt said he was "aware of only one other copy of this 1903 World Series program, and that copy resides in the Baseball Hall of Fame."
The program is well-preserved with its bound edge intact. It features pictures of Pittsburgh Pirates stars including Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner. The item sold for 5 cents at the game.
A few more items brought down big prices at the auction. Pete Rose's 4,000th hit baseball went for $66,700 while a Cy Young-autographed ball went for $51,570.
Of all the baseball collectibles, though, I have to say that old World Series programs are among the coolest. Looking at the covers of old copies at memorabilia shows is great fun and I can't imagine owning a copy of a program for the first World Series ever held.
Not that you'd actually ever be able to leaf through and read a program that costs as much as a house, of course. Heck, I'd be scared to let that out of a safety deposit box.�But it'd still be pretty sweet to own one of the few relics to survive from the dawn of the Fall Classic.
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