George Mikan – 1948 Bowman Ungraded – WWYD?

Bowman1948

My wife has been helping declutter her mom’s house. Whilst this has resulted in a cluttering of my house the process has also uncovered 27 1948 Bowman cards (baseball, basketball and football) that have been in a drawer for the last 55 years. My MIL is the original owner, having bought the gum packs in 1948/1949 from a drug store in the Spring Valley area of Washington, D.C., when she was about 11/12 years old. Of the cards, which were lightly handled at the time they were bought, 26 are now over with PSA for grading. The 27th is in a safety deposit box. It’s a George Mikan 1948 Bowman in very good condition. It’s not perfectly centered, but the colors are strong and the corners are as originally cut. My MIL wants to sell it and I’m helping her. My first thought had been to send it to PSA for grading and then either sell it on eBay or consign it to an auction house. Now I’m leaning towards consigning it to an auction house and have them be responsible for grading and selling. Here’s my question: What would you do and why? Also, which auction house would you recommend and why? Also, if I do send to PSA for grading, what is the estimated value? And should I have the card professional photographed prior to sending for grading? My interest is in my wife’s mom clearing the most for her card. The money will help her a lot. Many thanks in advance for sharing your advice and expertise.

rtimmer

I would have sent it in with the other 26 cards for grading.

Ahmanfan

Are those red marks on the back pen marks?
I'd say you're looking at a $3,000 card if it in fact grades psa 1-2. It presents well. I would just shoot it to PWCC.
Also curious why it didn't go to PSA with the rest of it's friends?

At this point, it being what it is, I would send it to PSA to grade it and then send to PWCC to auction it off.
John

Danstone

Those pen marks going kill this..maybe psa 3 mk

Bowman1948

The way it played out was that PSA graded the card a 4 (mk) VGEX. The next stop for the newly graded George Mikan card was Oregon and PWCC where the card sold for $4,384 in an auction that ended on May 20. Not bad for a card that came in a 5 cent pack of chewing gum my MIL bought some 72 years ago. She's happy! That said, if only she (or someone else) hadn't put pen marks on the back of the card way back when. Its crazy to think how much it might have sold for otherwise. Now I'm trying to work out how long it typically takes from the end of a PWCC auction to when the check is received. PWCC has to receive payment, and it seems that the buyer has seven days to review and possibly contest their purchase. Are we looking at three weeks? Longer?

dontippet

Well done.

jimq

PWCC will send an email around the 15th, and if you originally asked to be paid via check they'll tell you when they will mail the check. In my own experience they send it when they say they're sending it. Pretty well organized and they keep you informed.