Secret treasure of baseball cards found in dead man's home

[alicia-w]

Secret treasure

BOSTON (AP) -- Police were called to guard the condemned home of a reclusive man whose death led to the discovery of a valuable collection of vintage sports cards.

The collection, stored in 400 to 500 boxes in John F. Hessian's home in Boston's Roslindale section, included cards of such long-ago baseball stars as Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente. Hessian also had football and hockey cards dating to the 1940s in a collection police estimate could be worth up to $1 million.

"This is like Fort Knox inside," said Michael Wiseman of Aftermath Cleaning Co., which was hired to tear through piles of trash 6-feet high to reach the cards.

Hessian, 83, lived alone in the home his entire life, until a neighbor discovered him dead there on Jan. 2.

Four truckloads of the cards were removed from the house last week. Hessian also had some valuable cards stored in a safe deposit box in an unknown location.

Hessian is survived by two cousins who are left to hunt for a will or determine who inherits the card collection.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/01/19/cards.treasure.ap/index.html?cnn=yes