Baseball Cards Worth More Than $10,000 that You Can Co-Own with Other Collectors

The recent sale of a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card for more than $2.3 million dollars has attracted media attention to high-end vintage sports cards. But for baseball card collectors who are not multi-millionaires, such cards are way beyond our means. A group of sports card collectors and investors, however, is establishing a collection of high end vintage cards jointly owned by the community at CardTarget.com.

While they are not (yet!) collecting cards worth millions of dollars, the community does have three cards that are valued at more than $10,000. Since the ownership of these cards is divided into more than 1,000 shares, it is possible to purchase a share of ownership for about $10. The three most valuable cards currently co-owned by shareholders at CardTarget.com are a 1941 Joe DiMaggio and two T206 tobacco cards from 1909-11, Nap Lajoie and "Iron Man" McGinnity.

1941 Play Ball Joe DiMaggio

The Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio, established his record 56-game hitting streak in 1941. That year, Play Ball issued a colorful card of DiMaggio showing his iconic batting swing. Joe Orlando, the founder of PSA grading company, included the 1941 Play Ball DiMaggio as one of the top 200 sports cards in the hobby. More than 60 participants in CardTarget.com co-own a near mint (graded GAI 8.5) version of this card. With 1,100 shares available and recent share prices about $9 each, this card is valued at about $10,000. Other copies of this card in the same grade sold on eBay for $10,102 in March 2006, and at Memory Lane auction house for $12,592.

1909-11 T206 Nap Lajoie Throwing

From the same vintage set as the famous Honus Wagner, this nearly 100-year-old card shows hall of famer Napoleon Lajoie. A three-time batting champion, Lajoie may be the only player to have had a major league baseball team named after him. A very popular player and rival to the less popular Ty Cobb, the Cleveland Naps played from 1903 to 1914 before becoming the Cleveland Indians.

This card is one of three poses available of Lajoie in the T206 "monster" set and shows Lajoie after having thrown a ball. Graded mint (PSA 9), the CardTarget.com version has been valued at more than $14,000. More than 70 shareholders own the 1,600 shares which have recently sold for between $9 and $10 per share.

1909-1011 T206 Iron Man McGinnity

Iron Man McGinnity pitched for the famous New York Giants teams in the early 1900s, managed by hall-of-famer John McGraw. In contrast to Cal Ripken, who was nicknamed "Iron Man" for his endurance during his consecutive game streak, Iron Man McGinnity was nicknamed because he grew up working in iron manufacturing. McGinnity was elected to the hall of fame in 1946, joining teammate Christy Matthewson.

The nearly one-hundred year old card is in superb mint collection, graded by SGC as a 96. A PSA 9 version of this card sold at a Mastro auction for more than $20,000 in August 2006, and this card has been valued at CardTarget.com at more than $15,000. CardTarget.com participants have 1,550 shares held by more than 80 shareholders, and the shares have hovered around $10 per share.