The World's Oldest Known Baseball Card Sells For $92,000

Only one other copy of the card still exists, deep inside the Library of Congress archives.

Saco River Auction Co., File / AP

A Maine man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was antiquing along the US-Canadian border some time last year when he purchased an old album, some vintage Coke bottles, and two chairs for the grand total of $100. Not a bad haul.

Of course, he then looked inside the photo album and found this, a baseball "card" depicting the 1865 Brooklyn Atlantics baseball team. (Well, back then, it would've been a "base ball" team, most likely.) The '65 Atlantics were the undisputed kings of baseball, compiling an 18-0 record that season, part of a record-setting 42-game undefeated streak.

Via chevrolet.com

Though the card was expected to fetch over $100,000 at auction, Jason LeBlanc of Newburyport, Mass., secured the winning bid at an even $92,000. He says he bought the card primarily as some sort of investment for his son.

On the flip side, he could've bought a tricked-out 2013 Corvette Z06 for just under $85,000 and then used the rest to buy a thousand packs of today's cards and hope for the best.

Regardless, the moral of the story is clear: Antiquing isn't always that bad.