The Louisville Slugger Museum is packed wall to wall with one of a kind baseball memorabilia in preparation for tomorrow morning's sports collectibles auction. The Saturday morning event will also give collectors the opportunity to get their prized sports memorabilia items appraised by experts for free. Hank Aaron, who will be receiving the Living Legend award at a ticketed event at the museum tonight, will also be kicking the auction festivities off come Saturday.
More than 650 collectibles will be offered live including extremely rare memorabilia owned by 7-time Gold Glove Outfielder and free agency pioneer Curt Flood. Other notable items available at the auction will include a 1948 Jackie Robinson game-used road jersey expected to fetch in excess of $250,000, a matching road jersey worn by Robinson's teammate and Louisville native Pee Wee Reese, and Babe Ruth's 42nd home run ball of the 1926 season.
David Hunt, president of the auction company Hunt Auctions who will be hosting the event, was optimistic about the this weekend's auction, saying, "These are things that whatever they're worth or not, they'll still be tangible items of value the next day and the next day after that," he said.
Even if you have a sentimental piece, Hunt advises you have a trusted expert appraise it, and he said do your homework before dealing with any company. If your item has high value, insuring it is an option, and whether you keep or sell your treasure, proper preservation is a must.
"If you have a card or a ball or whatever it may be, the condition is very important, that's what really differentiates a lot of these items from other pieces, so you could have one baseball card that's identical to another, but the condition is the only differing factor between the two," he said.
Another factor for experts is authenticity. It's critical to insure a piece will continue to grow in value. When to sell your item depends on what's happening in the industry.
"Don't assume that they're not worth money because they don't look like much," Hunt said. "Find out what it's worth, because once you know, it might be a way to sell something that you have laying in a closet and end up paying for a mortgage for a month or two."
For more information on the event visit www.huntauctions.com.
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 1965 TOPPS 170 HANK AARON PSA 5 EX COND US $20.50 |  1958 TOPPS BASEBALL MICKEY MANTLE HANK AARON US $36.00 |  hank aaron 1953 317 topps US $185.99 |  1959 TOPPS HANK AARON 380 PSA GRADED VG 3 US $20.07 |
