A Man Bought an Old Photo Album for Under $100. Inside Was the Oldest Known Baseball Card

A yard sale stop in Baileyville, Maine turned a stack of everyday nostalgia into something far rarer than a few old Coca-Cola bottles. For under $100, a man walked away with a photo album that held an 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics team photograph mounted on a card, showing nine players gathered around their manager. The Library of Congress has called that dated image the first baseball card, and says only two copies are known, with the other in its own collection. After Sportscard Guaranty LLC authenticated it, the card went to Saco River Auction Co. in Biddeford, Maine, where bidding began at $10,000 and the final price reached $92,000 on 2/6/2013.

A hidden gem in a Baileyville yard sale

Every so often, the most interesting “tech” story is about verification, provenance, and a paper trail that outlives us. In Baileyville, Maine, an unidentified shopper went antiquing and left a yard sale with a photo album, some old Coca-Cola bottles, and a couple of oak chairs, all for under $100. Tucked inside was the real prize: an 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics photograph mounted on a card.

The image shows nine players gathered around their manager, a formal group portrait from baseball’s amateur era. It is the kind of artifact that feels ordinary until you realize what it represents: an early data point in America’s long obsession with collecting, cataloging, and comparing.

Why collectors call it the first dated baseball card

The Library of Congress didn’t treat this as just another old team photo. In its book “Baseball Americana,” the institution calls the first dated baseball card the 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics photograph, a detail that matters because “firsts” set entire markets.

Just as striking is scarcity. The Library of Congress said it was aware of only 2 copies in existence, with the other held in its own collection. Unlike the mass-produced cards that became common in the 1880s, this was an original 1865 photograph mounted on card stock, closer to a handmade credential than a modern trading card.

Authentication, then an auction room sprint

Before the market could speak, the item needed to be verified. A trading card grading firm, Sportscard Guaranty LLC (SGC), authenticated the card, according to Bob Luce, senior grader at the New Jersey company. That kind of third-party check is the collectibles world’s version of a trusted security layer.

The sale itself came quickly. On February 6, 2013, Saco River Auction Co. in Biddeford, Maine, ran the auction, and Troy Thibodeau, the manager and auctioneer, said bidding started at $10,000. The card ultimately sold for $92,000, including an 18% buyer’s premium, while NPR separately reported an $80,000 hammer price.

A snapshot of a championship club

The Brooklyn Atlantics were not a random lineup. They won league championships in 1861, 1864, and 1865, making the card a compact record of a dominant amateur club from the Civil War era. The buyer’s name was not released, which only adds to the artifact’s mystique.

Still, the numbers are plain: a yard-sale bundle under $100 turned into a documented piece of baseball history that changed hands for $92,000 on February 6, 2013.