In what seems like a plot straight out of a movie, a staggering $2 million worth of baseball cards have reportedly been stolen from an Ohio hotel. The incident has sent shockwaves through the sports memorabilia community, leaving collectors and enthusiasts stunned.
According to reports, the theft occurred at the Best Western Plus Hotel in Strongsville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Reported by Sports Collector's Daily, "54 high value cards, including numerous rare and post-War issues, are believed to have been stolen after a box arrived at the Best Western Plus Hotel the day before the show was set to open. The hotel is located next door to the arena...Memory Lane Auctions shipped the package from its Southern California headquarters via FedEx during the week of April 14. The company says security cameras reviewed by police show the heavy duty brown cardboard box being delivered. However, when a Memory Lane employee who had arrived in advance of the show went to pick it up on April 18, hotel employees couldn’t locate the box. The cards were to be displayed at the company’s booth at the show, which ran from April 19-21. They were part of Memory Lane’s latest auction, which closed early Sunday."
I asked several Auction Houses how they ship high value items? Heritage Auctions policy, according to a source, is "Usually shipments of that value go via armored truck or through a private guard." Ken Goldin, Founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, said "Goldin's policy is to hand deliver all items valued $500,000 and up in person by armored carrier. We never ship items to shows, we have them brought there and back to [the] office by armed security"
A high ranking employee at one Auction House opined about the missed opportunity for both the buyers and sellers. According to the Sports Collector's Daily article Memory Lane did not notify bidders that the cards were missing during the auction. These bidders could have bought other items and spent money on other items and/or from other sellers.
News of the theft has sent questions through the sports memorabilia community, with collectors and enthusiasts expressing their shock and sympathy for the victims. Many have taken to social media to spread the word in the hope of recovering the stolen cards. The good news, according to the article, Strongsville police investigators are said to have at least one local lead in the case but no arrests have been made so far.