Doctor who died of Covid leaves family $20m baseball card collection
‘No one enjoyed collecting more than Tom ... he spent almost every day attending to his collection’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A doctor in Florida who tragically died of coronavirus complications in January has left his family a baseball card collection worth $20m (£14m).
Dr Thomas Newman, a 73-year-old neurologist, had been collecting sports cards and memorabilia for over four decades before he passed away in January, vintage memorabilia auction site Memory Lane Inc said.
Now, his family has discovered that the rare stash is worth millions, with Babe Ruth items dating back to a 1916 Sporting News rookie card featuring in the collection.
"One of the 1933 Babe Ruth cards in this collection is the finest known of its kind and we expect it to break the record of $5.2 million for any sports card,” JP Cohen, president of the California auction house said.
He added: “Prices for rare, historic items have exploded in the collectibles market.”
The site, which specialises in sports auctions, said the collection also includes a near-perfect 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card which could sell for more than $1m (£707,000).
Dr Newman’s widow, Nancy Newman, explained that "no one enjoyed collecting more than Tom” and said that the doctor “jokingly called his cards his ‘paper babies’.”
She said: “It gave him such pleasure. The only reason he would ever sell a card was if he had acquired the same card in a higher grade.”
The vast assortment also boasts Hall of Fame players including Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, and Cy Young, the release said.
According to CNN, the collection was so large it filled an 18-foot U-Haul truck when Mr Cohen went to retrieve it.
The doctor had stored some of his collection in his Tampa medical offices, with one room being filled with still-unopened cards from the 1980s.
Professional Sports Authenticator, the world’s largest sports collectibles certification company, has authenticated the collection, which and sports fans will be able to bid on from June 21.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments