Rare Babe Ruth Rookie Card Found in Strange Spot Sells for $130,053 at Auction

You'll never guess where this rare Babe Ruth card that recently sold at auction was discovered.

One Maryland woman got the return on her investment into a used piano and much more after discovering an old baseball card hidden away inside: An M101-4 Babe Ruth rookie card from 1916 sold for $130,053 at auction this week. 

Maryland resident Ellen Kelly's aunt Nora died in 1969 but the piano remained in the family until around 1992, Kelly told told Sports Collectors Daily. She then bought it for $25 at the family’s estate sale. When she noticed a pedal was sticking, she had her friend come over to fix it. That's when the card, along with over 100 others, was discovered. While she made the find in 1992, this is the year she decided to sell it. Kelly told Sports Collectors Daily she suspected her father or uncle put the cards in the piano to hide them from Nora, who Kelly said "threw everything out."

"Best $25 I ever spent," she told Sports Collectors Daily. 

When the card sold at a Beckett Goodwin Auctions, it went for double the pre-sale estimate and set a record for public sale of a card graded at the 2.5 BVG (Good+) condition, according to Forbes. It also sold higher than the same card in better condition, which went for $38,837 through Heritage Auctions, did a decade ago.