Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A California man said the Babe Ruth baseball card he bought for $2 from a collectibles store could turn out to be worth millions.
Dale Ball of Visalia said he spotted the card with an $8 price tag at Action Sports and Coin in Sparks, Nev., and ended up paying only $2 because the store was having a sale that day.
He said the owner did not appear to realize the card might be an authentic Shotwell W-575-1 Babe Ruth card, an ultra-rare collectible with only two known surviving copies.
"I said, 'why is it only $8,'" Ball told KMPH-TV of his conversation with the shop owner. "He says, 'I can't find it anywhere in the magazines. I think it's fake.'"
Ball said he researched the card online for days before discovering it might be one of the rare cards printed by the Shotwell Company in 1921.
The collector said he had the card examined by an antiques expert in Beverly Hills, who shared his opinion that the item is genuine. He said the card must be authenticated and graded by the Beckett Company before it's status can be made official.
Ball said he is willing to sell the card -- but not for less than $2 million.