>> do you have a strange inheritance story you would like to share with us? we would love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our web site, strange inheritance.com. >> found in grandpa's attic. >> dirty, dusty old box. like, wow. i don't know what it is. >> a discovery that will make the baseball world flip. >> you've got honus wagner. cy young. christie matthew son. >> i'm thinking to myself, oh, my god. i have a million dollars sitting in a chair. >> but is it almost too much of a good thing? >> it certainly changes the market in a negative way. (?) ♪ jamie: i'm jamie colby. i'm in northwest ohio.

called the great black swamp. this is a family who has lived here for more than 100 years. when they unearth their "strange inheritance," they give it a code name: the "black swamp find." >> i'm karl kissner, in 2011, my cousins and i inherited the home from our aunts. we would find things in this home that we never knew existed. >> karl, a 54-year-old restaurant owner has invited me to the family home in the small town of defiance, ohio. karl, hi. i'm jamie. how are you? >> pleasure to meet you. jamie: nice to meet you too. is this the family home? >> this is grandma's home. come on in. i'll show you around. jamie: the house came into karl's family in 1949. >> needle place, but

needs tlc. >> are you saying to be >> in 2012 carl and his cousin starts the daunting task of cleaning out a home that has been lived in for more than a century. after several weeks of sorting through the house only the attic remains. karl and his cousin karla decide to tackle the project. >> ladies first. >> look at this place. >> attic is empty now but not that day in 2012. karl and karla walk in to find a century's worth of dusty boxes and air looms. >> filled to the rafters. >> up to here and a path down through the middle. >> after several hours they uncover the box hugging the back wall. it contains something the two cousins have never seen before. >> dirty dusty old box. i open it up and there's like, wow, there's i don't know what

it is. >> they see what appears to be small cardboard photos tightly wrapped in twine. they recognized pretty familiar faces. >> tie young, ty cobb, wagner. they are not baseball cards not to us. we get one outlook at the back. they look like baseball cards just miniaturized no stats no who made it no nothing. >> how many are we talking about? >> hundreds. >> amazing. you see the box you take them out. what do you say? >> actually. we set them on a dresser in the hallway and dove back into the attic. >> soon karl starts to ponder where the strange cards may have come from. was it something they collected off of a cereal box or maybe they go back to his grandmother carl hench. >> he is a german immigrant and workses his way down through chicago towards the ohio valley.

>> he is chasing the american dream own a home and start a business. carl is a butcher by trade. by 1905 he scraped together enough to open his own shop here in defiance. carl hench meat market. along with meats and sausages he sells candies and other grocery items. >> was he successful? >> very successful. very well known. >> in 1909 he marries his love jenny start a family and buy that dream home. >> by now baseball is long established itself as the national past time. for decades various companies used baseball cards to sell their products. >> the first nationally circulated cards came inside packages of tobacco in the late 1980's. it was the opportunity for the average citizen to own a real photo. >> candy companies jump into the game, too.

the care mel cards help sell the sweets of the day. >> you have cy young, christie matthew son. >> children love the candy but the cards even more. >> kids did what kids do. they traded them card flipping games they did with them. >> all karl and karl know is the cards may have come from their grandfather's store. >> our guess is he would have given them away as promotional items. like any good businessman when you got leftovers you save them for the next promotion. >> beyond that carl isn't sure what they have in the box but he tells his cousin they will find out. the box almost gets thrown out several times before he brings it to his restaurant to research the car cards on-line. after a few days he has some leads. >> i was looking at the 1909 caramel card. i am going okay not identical

but it is too close and they have an estimated value on this ward of oo-- >> around 15,000. >> carl discovers a similar ty cobb card identified recently sold for 40,000. >> i got a box full of them and they are pristine. >> that's amazing. you are sitting on a bundle of money. >> yeah. at that point the heart is starting to race and i am thinking to myself oh my god i have a million dollars sitting in a chair. >> a lot more than that if carlen confirm his cards are real. >> you are a little skeptical but you are always looking to that one card that turns out to be cold. >> is it the 1952 tops mickey mantel or 1958 nolan ryan or

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can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. >> so which helped set off the rookie card craze? it's c the 1984 don russ, don matti mattingly. he didn't have the hall of fame some predicted but mattingly's cards remain popular.

>> while the grandchildren of karl and jen ny hench are cleaning out the century family home of northwest ohio they find a dust covered box containing vintage baseball cards. >> i had went to some of the auction sites. i am seeing ty cobb for 40,000 dollars. i am looking at the ty cobb going, oh, mine is better. >> the box karl found in the attic not only contains ty cobb but all of the grates of the era. it's not just one of each player it's dozens. in all there are 800 cards most in friens condition. >> it takes it out of the scope and realm you are not quite sure how to handle it. >> step one find out if the cards are real. karl reaches out to vintage sports cards experts peter

call calderon in dallas. >> i received a phone call this was script tick. on a daily basis we find cards it is always reprints. >> peter tells karl to take photos of the cards he will take a look when he gets the chance. >> when i got that first picture the first thing i thought of this is going to be found in a too good to be true folder. but they looked amazing i found nothing about them that suggested they weren't real. thes next plan was we talked about him sending me a sample of the cards. >> overknighted 8 cards to peter with a note attached vaying call me. >> when the box arrived in dallas. >> i got him on the phone there's a moment of silence that feels like 10 minutes but it is a matter of seconds. >> i pull out the box pull out a large plastic holder. there's a e-oh, (bleep).

i was just floored because i had no idea what a 100-year-old baseball card looked like brand new. >> at that moment i know that these are real. >> carl has one more bombshell. >> the next question is do you have any more. >> they called the cards the black swamp find. ear swiped to dallas in an armored truck and locked in a safety of vault. the next step is to get them graded on a scale from 1-10. he goes to ford old doe.

they meet up at the national sports convention for a crash course in baseball cards. >> why is this one only a one-134? >> if you look at the cards you can see the defects. multiple creases through out the card. this is about as low as it can get. >> this one is higher this is 8. is that considered mint? >> if you look close you can see tiny white pieces of wear on each corner. that's a difference between the 8, 9 or a 10. >> those tiny imperfections can make a difference of thousands of dollars. this is a psa 8 worth roughly 100 or so. if it was a 9 at no times north of 1,000 if it's a 10 it is north of 5,000. >> what about the black swamp find? do carl's cards make the grade?

>> what was your reaction? >> it was mind blowing. >> before the black swamp find the highest grade psa ever given to a card in that series was a 7. karl's card beat that in the first at bat. >> it was a ty cobb. little did we know there were 15 more ty cobb 9's and hundreds of 8, 9 and even 10's in the set. >> sounds good, right? t it doubles the known population and the unprecedented size and quality of the find could crash the baseball card collector's market. the will carl's inheritance end up being too much of a good thing? >> if were to flood the market at one time it would diminish the value of the entire find. >> that's next. >> another quiz question for you. what's the most ever paid for a

babe ruth baseball card? is it 78,000, 517,000 or $1.3 million? the answer in a moment. what's that thing?

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cards even half that age. before the collecting craze in the 1980s, cards were simply fun things or to be used in flipping games. it will land either picture. you'll toss the card. if you match my card, you get to keep my card and your card. if you don't, i get to go home with your card. here goes. it's up. picture. i'm a winner. >> you're a winner. jamie: fortunately, for karl, his grandfather wasn't interested in such games, and the collection should easily be worth millions, if they play their cards right. you see, selling the so-called black swan find all at once could flood the market >> bhauz of the size of the collection and quantity involved there was a lot of concern about

the value. if there was one of each player that would have been ideal. >> so heritage auction proposes a series of separate sales to maximize the family's take. >> we decided the best way to do it is take your time sell them by the set over a number of years. >> carl runs the estate on behalf of the 20 grandchildren and divides the cards up into equal sets. each family member can join a consortium to sell the cards or keep their share as a family air loom. >> did any one keep the cards? >> yes. >> some of them did. >> most family members agree to team up and sell the cards gradually. peter calderone and comes up with what might expect if all goes right. nearly $3 million. for karl it's a staggering find. >> this is something we almost through in a dumpster.

>> in august 2012 in baltimore camden yards ball bark they put the first 37 cards up for auction. >> they were the best of the best. they were the best graded cards out of all of them we had graded. >> let's do live 001, 1910. >> bidding the fast and furious they see one lot of 9 cards go for 40,000 dollars a second lot of 27 cards goes for 286,000. the real clean up hitter of the night the only psa gem mint ten graded card hall of famer honis wagner in existence. >> 2 w40,000 solid. done 240,000 dollars. >> we were flabbergasted. this is a wonderful gift from our grandfather and from our aunt. what more can you ask for? >> the family's total for the

night 566,000. it is a very promising start. but they have also sold their best cards. the black swamp find does it still have enough gas in it to get their hench grandchildren to their $3 million goal? that is next. >> yoo to help support regularity. mmmm. these are good! the tasty side of fiber. from phillips that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa!

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...and tkind of like you huffing sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said.. doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. you should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or

high blood pressure before taking it. grandfather: symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. watch out, piggies! child giggles doctor: symbicort. breathe better starting within 5 minutes. call or go online to learn more about a free prescription offer. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> now, back to "strange inheritance." jamie: karl kissner and his family are slowly >> they are slowly selling off their rare baseball cards. the collection is valued at around $4 million. around $3 million. the family still has plenty of high-grade hall of famers to sell. in october 2012 and may 2013, two online auctions with some help from legendary manager connie racked up

$419,000. in august 2013 in chicago, a psa minor brown pitches in to help the team ring in another 220k. in the big apple, february 2014, a psa, 8.5 johnny eve ever seen. johnny. two more online auctions raise the total to $1.7 million. jamie: on july 31st, 2014, i join karl and his cousin carla at the 35th national sports collectors convention in cleveland for their latest auction. >> got a fired up crowd here tonight. what do you think, karl? >> it's exciting watching everybody, and listening to the on floor bids. you get into the feel of >> bid what you want. of the last person standing with their hand in the air gets the item. >> apparently people have money.

at the end of tonight you may, too. >> a first for karl and karla tonight, the georgia peach. >> this is a 1910 set of 30 ty cobb psa bid 9. are you serious? 22,000. 28 grand. 27. fair warning anybody else. >> when the auction ear slows down like that you know it is good. >> 28,000 dollars. >> now stepping up to the plate psa mid 9 wagner. >> another 30. 33,000. the bidding ends at 33,750. >> very good. >> weekend earnings including on-line sales total 133,000

lifting the black swamp find totals to 1.85 million. >> are you satisfied tonight? >> i am ecstatic. the person buying it wants it and appreciates it. he will add it to his scollectin and maybe he will pass it on to his family. >> a box forgotten an stored in an attic changes the collectibles forever along with the grandchildren. so far it is like a slugger with 40 home runs at the all star break well on track to surpass the goal set by peter calderon. >> still ten more sets to sell averaging almost 200,000 a set. >> the game is never over until the last man is out. >> what would grandpa say? >> i think he would be stunned amazed and pleased.

i am sure sthat he is i am sure the family is looking down with big smiles on their faces. >> what the black swamp find nearly history's most epic case of some guy's mom throwing out his baseball card collection? carl thinks so. when he made his big discovery in the attic, he spotted several wrinkly cards strung among the rafters karl believes they went flying during one of his grandma jennies cleaning purrings when she would pitch boxes of junction right out the attic window into a big mound below. thank goodness she never got hold of that one box in the corner. i am jamie colby for strange inheritance. thank you for joining us. remember, you can't take it with

you. >> do you have a strange inheritance story you would like to share with us? we would love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to the web site strange inheritance.com. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> it was something that hasn't anywhere been done before. >> the apollo astronauts were american heros. >> it's what we were asked to do. >> we choose to go to the moon. not because they are easy but because they are hard. >> did you actually ever think i might -- [ inaudible ] >> today, nearing historic lows as