Ohio Cousins Are Ready to Auction Off "The Holy Grail" of Baseball Collectibles

Oct. 31, 2011 - PRLog -- Cincinnati, OH--- Their journey has taken them across the country and to Canada. For 10 long years, cousins John Cobb and Ray Edwards have been trying to proclaim to the world that they are owners of what is known as "the holy grail" of baseball collectibles: The T206 Honus Wagner Card.  Cobb and Edwards have thousands of documents archived in binders and stored digitally showing the immense investigative scholarship they have committed to proving the authenticity of their card.

A Matter of Race and Class
The world of sports memorabilia collecting is largely dominated by wealthy white men.  Enter into the mix, two working-class African American men, one of which has worked in a family-owned rubbish business part time, a good portion of his adult life, and from that experience became an ardent collector of all sorts of memorabilia----from comic books and iconic LIFE magazines, to Pokemon cards and pop culture collectibles--all meticulously catalogued and crated.  "Why is it so unbelieveable given all the years my cousin (John) has been collecting that he wouldn't come across a valuable baseball card? One of our appraisers, Bob Connelly, said that if he had blonde hair and blue eyes there would be no doubt", says Ray Edwards.  Cobb and Edwards have been accused of theft--no charges were ever filed, and the police have cleared their names.  They have had racial slurs hurled at them on the Internet baseball memorabilia message boards, they have been accused of attempting to pass along cournterfiet merchandise.  There have been home invasions at gun point, and a bankruptcy filing by Edwards and a mild stroke suffered by Cobb.  Yet despite the decade of insults to their character and personal set-backs, Cobb and Edwards remain unfazed and unbossed.

There have been supporters along the way, such as antiques dealer, and appraiser Bob Connelly of Binghamton, New York. Connelly was the first to speak out--and on national television about the racism the cousins were experiencing because they were not part of the sports memorabilia establishment. Connelly held an unsuccessful auction of the T206 Honus Wagner Card, and held the card in his safe for 5 years before relinquishing it back to Cobb and Edwards just this year.

Perseverance Endures
At long last the duo found ACA Grading, an authentication service based in Quebec, which labeled the card "authentic", but did not give it an actual numerical grade because they allowed Cobb and Edwards to be present when the card was evaluated. Martin Brouillard is the Senior Grader of ACA Grading, and Johanne Bergeron was the forensic document examiner. The major grading services have maligned the Cobb/Edwards card and its owners--sight unseen.  Yet for all of their bad mouthing, they have and are facing FBI investigations for fraud. Bill Mastro, one of the first graders to declare the Cobb/Edwards T206 a fake, is at the center of an FBI fraud investigation and his Mastro Auctions business no longer exists.

Professional Sports Authentication, PSA's CEO Joe Orlando firm graded a T206 Honus Wagner card once owned by NHL great Wayne Gretsky, an "8".  His card received this extraordinarily high grade despite the fact that one of the graders says that he knew that the card was trimmed when it was examined back in 1991. The grader's accusation was also confirmed by a second party and documented in the book, "The Card".

Due to Edwards' research, and sheer determination, he sought out experts in the paper and printing industries to conduct forensic tests to determine the authenticity of their card.  The paper expert said that the fibers of the card contained no titanium oxide, which proved that the paper was produced in the early 1900s.  The printing expert concluded that the card was definitely printed in the early 20th century due to the printing method used, and that it was impossible for anyone to reproduce that type of print today. "Now other card collectors are seeking out people to do forensics on their cards.  If it wasn't for my need to prove the truth about our card, that wouldn't have happened", states Edwards.

Although the card remains steeped in controversey, the cousins will remain focused on their goal: to auction off their T206 Honus Wagner Card.  At this point, the cousins' story is worthy of a book deal and a movie, given all its twists and turns and cast of characters.  The duo are opened to entertaining offers.  "We've come this far, no need in turning back now", says Cobb.


Learn About the Cobb/Edwards T206 Honus Wagner Card
To learn more about the Cobb/Edwards T206 Honus Wagner Card, and to see the timeline of events, "like" their page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/TheCobbEdwardsT206HonusWagnerCard


About the T206 Honus Wagner Card
It is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world.  The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series.  It has been reported that Wagner no longer wanted his card to be produced, so when production ended only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public--this information is of some debate. On the 100th anniversary of professional baseball in 1969, Wagner was honored among the greatest players, and was selected as the best shortstop to ever play the game.

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