The Sandcastle Find ! Holy Cow !
Allen
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Burried Treasure Found on Carolina's Coast
By CHRIS JENKINS, AP Sports Writer
April 1, 2006
Last weeks storms brought heavy rains and gail force winds to the residents of Myrtle Beach, SC. But that was not all they brought. Larry Alls (31) of Bluefield, WV took his son, Nick (7) out to the beach Thursday evening when the rains finally stopped. The two decided to build a sandcastle on the nearly deserted beach.
"There was washed up seaweed and pieces of fireworks and trash all over the shore." said Larry. As they began to dig for the sandcastle Nick struck something with his plastic shovel.
Nick shouted "Daddy I found a boat!"
Larry began to investigate the piece of wood pertruding from the sand.
"I thought it was just a washed up scrap of lumber, then we realized it had a corner." said Larry
They began to unearth the box from the sand when a lifeguard patroling on an ATV came upon the scene. The lifeguard had a folding camp shovel and helped the two clear off the top of the crate. Once the lifeguard determined it was safe to open, he pried open the top with the shovel.
Inside the box was what appeared to be pink plaster. Upon closer inspection Larry noticed that it could be chipped away. After carefully shipping at the plaster for 30 minutes they broke through to what was inside.
The treasure that they had spent over four hours excavating was not gold or silver but baseball cards. 1952 Topps baseball cards, nearly 75,000 of them. The lifeguard said the two could keep them since it was nothing that would be claimed. After three hours of loading the cards into the car the father and son went to Baseball 17, a card shop on Ocean Blvd. The owner, Greg Thompson, told the two they had one of the most significant baseball card finds in history. After closer inspection the owner discovered that the plaster like material was actually bubble gum. Rumors that Topps dumped high number 1952 Topps cards into the Atlantic Ocean because they would not sell have circulated among card collectors for years. Apparently when Topps disposed of the cards they decided to dump some old gum aswell. When submerged into the slat water of the Atlantic the gum expanded and hardened within seconds. This preserved about 95% of the cards. Within three hours Al Rosen flew into Myrtle Beach Jetport and purchased the find for $5,000. Rosen laster stated that all 75,000 cards were high numbers in uncirculated condition, save the 3,000 that had water damage. The find included 1,589 copies of Mickey Mantle card #311 and 1,043 copies of Eddie Mathews card #407.
And in case you have not guessed....APRIL FOOLS!
By CHRIS JENKINS, AP Sports Writer
April 1, 2006
Last weeks storms brought heavy rains and gail force winds to the residents of Myrtle Beach, SC. But that was not all they brought. Larry Alls (31) of Bluefield, WV took his son, Nick (7) out to the beach Thursday evening when the rains finally stopped. The two decided to build a sandcastle on the nearly deserted beach.
"There was washed up seaweed and pieces of fireworks and trash all over the shore." said Larry. As they began to dig for the sandcastle Nick struck something with his plastic shovel.
Nick shouted "Daddy I found a boat!"
Larry began to investigate the piece of wood pertruding from the sand.
"I thought it was just a washed up scrap of lumber, then we realized it had a corner." said Larry
They began to unearth the box from the sand when a lifeguard patroling on an ATV came upon the scene. The lifeguard had a folding camp shovel and helped the two clear off the top of the crate. Once the lifeguard determined it was safe to open, he pried open the top with the shovel.
Inside the box was what appeared to be pink plaster. Upon closer inspection Larry noticed that it could be chipped away. After carefully shipping at the plaster for 30 minutes they broke through to what was inside.
The treasure that they had spent over four hours excavating was not gold or silver but baseball cards. 1952 Topps baseball cards, nearly 75,000 of them. The lifeguard said the two could keep them since it was nothing that would be claimed. After three hours of loading the cards into the car the father and son went to Baseball 17, a card shop on Ocean Blvd. The owner, Greg Thompson, told the two they had one of the most significant baseball card finds in history. After closer inspection the owner discovered that the plaster like material was actually bubble gum. Rumors that Topps dumped high number 1952 Topps cards into the Atlantic Ocean because they would not sell have circulated among card collectors for years. Apparently when Topps disposed of the cards they decided to dump some old gum aswell. When submerged into the slat water of the Atlantic the gum expanded and hardened within seconds. This preserved about 95% of the cards. Within three hours Al Rosen flew into Myrtle Beach Jetport and purchased the find for $5,000. Rosen laster stated that all 75,000 cards were high numbers in uncirculated condition, save the 3,000 that had water damage. The find included 1,589 copies of Mickey Mantle card #311 and 1,043 copies of Eddie Mathews card #407.
And in case you have not guessed....APRIL FOOLS!
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Comments
You beat me to it - and I had something in mind that would have started a firestorm - will have to set it off next year.
Almost! I've already been the target of a couple tricksters today, so I'm on my guard!
Mike,
It's good to see you posting again! How was your self-imposed break from the action?!
I'm hope everything's well with you...
hh
Forget blocking him; find out where he lives and go punch him in the nuts. --WalterSobchak 9/12/12
Looking for Al Hrabosky and any OPC Dave Campbells (the ESPN guy)