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Remember Bernice Gallego? The lady who found an 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings card while thinning her antique collection, put it up for sale on eBay with a starting price of $10 and then pulled it down after realizing it might be worth much more?

Turns out Gallego's hunch was right. After a three-week online auction, the Fresno resident sold what is believed to be one of history's first baseball cards for $64,073.

Not a bad paycheck for some spring cleaning.

The sale ended a whirlwind month for Gallego, who attracted an avalanche of attention on the front page of Yahoo!, the New York Times and other outlets across the country. Her popularity soared even further in late January, when she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and revealed that this wasn't her first instance of blind luck. She once won $250,000 from a slot machine in Nevada.  

Gallego embraced all the attention and kept a wicked sense of humor throughout the process, as evidenced by her first public remarks after the auction ended on Tuesday. 

From the Fresno Bee:

"I'm so happy for the card. Oh and for me too, of course," said Gallego on Tuesday night. "I had hoped to bail out California from this financial emergency, but it didn't quite get that far. But maybe it'll bail out my credit cards."

Jeffrey Rosenberg of Tristar Productions was the winner of the auction. He runs an autograph show business and plans to display the card at shows around the country. 

The actual final price of the card was $75,285.78, but that amount included a 17.5 percent buyer's premium for the auction house. Memory Lane Auctions says the price is a record for its house and that the last 1869 Red Stockings card sold for around $30,000.

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1322 Comments

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  1. This is Dave, Hello There!
    1. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:42 pm EDT

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    Clara Peller is alive!
  2. PATS52
    2. Posted by PATS52 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    Hey Bernice,how come you didn't get the autographs when you had the chance?
  3. PATS52
    3. Posted by PATS52 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    OOPS!!!! I thought this was a Create a Caption...
  4. jeffutlaw
    4. Posted by jeffutlaw Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    Clara Peller, that's funny.
    Anyone else notice that in the picture it looks like the old lady has devil horns?
  5. matt g
    5. Posted by matt g Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:11 pm EDT

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    That will buy you alot of Matlock DVDs.
  6. JeffF
    6. Posted by JeffF Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:32 pm EDT

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    That's her son in the yellow sweater behind her.
  7. matt m
    7. Posted by matt m Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:06 pm EDT

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    hey rocky.....watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat
  8. harrisonlamm
    8. Posted by harrisonlamm Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

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    With her luck, she has to be the devil.
  9. Webs
    9. Posted by Webs Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:36 pm EDT

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    She looks like Mrs. Garret. Get Tuty, she could use some money.
  10. Rick B
    10. Posted by Rick B Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:40 pm EDT

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    they ripped her off...that card is worth much more...she could have bought clappers for everyone in her city.
  11. chipni
    11. Posted by chipni Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:23 pm EDT

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    Good for her. Hope she enjoys her $.
  12. Robert H
    12. Posted by Robert H Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

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    I like turtles
  13. cc
    13. Posted by cc Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:24 pm EDT

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    You go girl!
  14. Dixie Dan
    14. Posted by Dixie Dan Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:10 pm EDT

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    Time to clean out my garage!
  15. cc
    15. Posted by cc Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:24 pm EDT

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    You go girl!
  16. LAKERS*F*SA
    16. Posted by LAKERS*F*SA Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    Go lakers!!!!!!!!!!!
  17. DAD
    17. Posted by DAD Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:34 pm EDT

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    She should have brought the card to New York -- $2 million at least --- no one knew it was up for sale.
    Who checks EBAY for rare cards ?????????
  18. thomas p
    18. Posted by thomas p Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm EDT

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    theres 10 guys in the pic so is one a manager or a dh or the water boy
  19. Sarge
    19. Posted by Sarge Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:14 pm EDT

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    17.5% seems like a lot for selling an item. I would have held out for less percentage and more money.
  20. Hey Ya
    20. Posted by Hey Ya Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:09 pm EDT

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    Well I'm happy for her, it teaches us we need to look before we throw away. I hope she can take care of somethings and makes her life a lil more comfortable
  21. Cody K
    21. Posted by Cody K Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:51 pm EDT

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    that is one lucky old lady
  22. CY
    22. Posted by CY Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:33 pm EDT

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    I hope my Donruss Barry Bonds rookie card is worth that someday... :(
  23. Jeffrey C
    23. Posted by Jeffrey C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    congrats to the lady for such a find! not to be negative but will Uncle Sam charge her taxes on it?
  24. Cannonball
    24. Posted by Cannonball Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:31 pm EDT

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    She looks like Ed McMahon just knocked on her front door and told her he loved her new hairdo.
  25. Raggedyman
    25. Posted by Raggedyman Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:14 pm EDT

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    I think I'm in love.

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