Baltimore, Md., Dec 21, 2010 / 09:57 am
Catholic sisters in Baltimore auctioning off a rare baseball card to support their mission work, hit a snag recently as the winning bidder failed to come through with the promised $220,000.
The bleak situation brightened, however, when an avid card collector – a Catholic doctor from Philadelphia – wired the funds after the original bidder missed the 30-day deadline to purchase the card.
The mission work of the School Sisters of Notre Dame will receive a big financial boost from the sale of one of the most prized baseball cards in the world. One of the sisters received the highly valued collector's item featuring Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner in her deceased brother’s will.
Sr. Virginia Muller told the Associated Press in October that the slightly damaged card of Wagner, one of only 60 that exist, was bequeathed to one of the sisters in a safety deposit box with a typewritten note explaining its value.
When Heritage Auction Galleries put the card up for auction last month, it eventually garnered $220,000. However, the original bidder failed to provide the money within the 30-day span following his winning bid.