Taking care of a loved one’s final wishes after they pass away is never an easy task. There are normally lots of loose ends to tie up within their will and estate, such as dividing up personal property and finances among their living relatives. Most people will agree that it’s not the most exciting position to be in.
When Karl Kissner’s grandfather passed away, he suddenly found himself thrust into the position of executor to his estate. Karl was immediately overwhelmed, mostly because his grandfather was known to be a bit of a pack rat when he was alive, so there was really no telling what might have been stored away on his property over all these years. Still, Karl most certainly wasn’t expecting to find something buried in the dust of his grandfather’s old attic that would change his life forever, but incredibly – that’s exactly what he did…
When he began the enormous task of cleaning out his grandfather’s house, Karl knew that there could possibly be some valuable items tucked away among all of the junk, so he kept an eye out for anything strange as he worked. At first, he mostly just found old documents, paperwork, and maybe an occasional photo here and there. However, while digging through a junk box full of old coats, he then came upon something that looked out of the ordinary.
Karl had found a curious stack of boxes, and he pulled them out into the open so he could get a better look at them. Most of them seemed to contain similar junk to what he had already been sifting through, but one particular box in the pile seemed to be very unique.
While inspecting some of the other boxes, Karl came across an old board game that he used to play as a child called Uncle Wiggly’s New Airplane Game. He had fond memories of playing the game while growing up, and that warm feeling of nostalgia briefly made the entire experience feel like it was worth it. Still, he continued his work.
Once he was finished cleaning out the attic, he finally got around to inspecting that one very unique looking box that he had found buried underneath all of the rubble. He carefully opened it up, and was shocked to find several rows of old baseball cards inside – all of them in mint condition!
Karl knew that players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would have brought in big bucks amongst collectors, but unfortunately, there weren’t any of those cards inside of the box. However, there were some other names from the early days of baseball that Karl did recognize. Players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner were all accounted for in the collection, and Karl figured to himself that they had to hold at least some kind of value.
He had heard stories about other people making a fortune from cashing in on rare baseball cards in the past, so he immediately decided to have the collection appraised by an expert in Dallas, Texas. After the cards were carefully examined and cataloged, the appraiser then shared the estimated value of the entire collection with Karl. His jaw was about to hit the floor…
The rare collection of cards was appraised at an astonishing $3 million! The appraiser handling the sale of the cards through Heritage Auctions said it was “the most significant find in the history of the hobby.” Not too shabby for just one afternoon of cleaning out old junk!
Can you imagine accidentally finding something so valuable while taking care of a loved one’s final wishes? Karl Kissner certainly never expected to, but after coming across a strange looking box full of old baseball cards in his grandfather’s attic, his life was sure to never be the same again.
Watch the news segment below featuring Karl Kissner’s amazing baseball card discovery!
