74-year-old woman makes bank off baseball card
For most of her life, Florence Sasso didn’t think much of the old baseball card her mom kept stored in a chocolate box. Now, the 74-year-old thinks of the baseball card often. She’s $179,000 richer because of it.
“My friend from Florida called me and told me she read about it in the paper there,’’ she said. “Next thing you know, all of my ex-boyfriends are going to be calling me up.’’
Even though the baseball card had been in her family for 155 years, Sasso decided to sell the it once she found out a similar card sold for nearly six figures. Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, told Boston.com that Sasso’s was automatically more valuable because it was five years older than the other card.
“The significance stems from the fact that this one is pre-Civil War,’’ he said in an earlier interview. “Five years does make a difference. It’s possibly the only team card printed before the first drop of blood was spilled in the Civil War.’’
Before the auction, Sasso had no idea what to expect. Unsurprisingly, she’s thrilled with the outcome.
“We’re going to have a party at the senior center to celebrate since I discovered I had the card when I was there,’’ she said. “And I’ll be able to take care of my mortgage, and still have some left-over to donate. You have to give back.’’
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