This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/4/2020
In June of 2017, Mile High Card Company was contacted about a cache of unopened wax packs and boxes from the 1940s-1970s the likes have which have never been seen before. Dubbed "The Beer Box Find", the collection was so vast that it had to be spread over two auctions, and when the smoke cleared, the collection nabbed a sum total of over $1.5 million dollars. For those unfamiliar with the find, the collection originated from a family that operated one of the most prominent non-sports trading card companies of its time and even dabbled in the baseball card market. Company executives, as part of the research and development for producing their own product, examined products of their competitors and then put them in storage, which explains their pristine condition of all the material in the find. Consisting of complete and near-complete wax boxes of both sports and non-sports collections, the lead item was a near-complete box of 1948 Bowman baseball card packs, the only examples (and the only display box) known to exist. The bidding was fierce and several prospective buyers lamented not having taken that winning bid. Well here’s your opportunity for redemption as the box has made its way back to Mile High Card Company’s August Auction as the winning bidder from that June 2017 auction has decided to put it back on the open market, keeping one pack for his collection and returning the other 18 and the box for consignment. As previously stated, until the discovery of this 1948 Bowman lot, no packs were known to exist and none have surfaced since. The original 1948 Bowman display box, well-worn and held together with tape, is also the only known example to exist. The '48 Bowman baseball collection is one of the most iconic issues of the hobby, the first mainstream collection to be distributed after World War II and the pioneer of the modern age of baseball cards, though just 15 years the junior of the 1933 Goudey series. An open pack was shown to us by the consignor and the contents taught us much about how the '48 Bowman series was marketed. The pack housed five cards that were near-perfectly centered and appeared to be MINT or better, along with three large slabs of aged bubble gum that are the same dimensions but thicker than the cards, bringing the total depth of each pack to about half an inch. With one pack removed since the prior sale, the other 18 packs and the box were resubmitted to Steve Hart (Baseball Card Exchange) for verification and wrapped, given an approval LOA from BBCE which states that the packs range from NM to NM/MT. You missed out on this extraordinary piece the three years ago, but now you've got a second chance!