1860s baseball card fetches $179,000 at auction


              FILE - This June 30, 2015 file photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows the front of a circa 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics baseball card. The pre-Civil War card is on the auction block at Heritage Auctions during their evening sale Thursday,  July 30, 2015, in Chicago. (Butch Ziaks/Heritage Auctions via AP, File)
FILE - This June 30, 2015 file photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows the front of a circa 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics baseball card. The pre-Civil War card is on the auction block at Heritage Auctions during their evening sale Thursday, July 30, 2015, in Chicago. (Butch Ziaks/Heritage Auctions via AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) - A circa 1860s Brooklyn Atlantics team baseball card that's been in the same family for over 150 years has fetched over $179,000 at auction.

The pre-Civil War baseball card was owned by Florence Sasso of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It shows her great-great-uncle Archibald McMahon, an outfielder for the squad, pictured with eight of his teammates in bib-style shirts and two gentlemen in suits.

Auction organizers say it was purchased by an anonymous collector from the West Coast. It had a presale estimate of $50,000.

The Atlantics were a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players - the sport's first organized league that held the championship from 1859 through 1861.

The sale was among the highlights of a sports memorabilia auction held Thursday by Heritage Auctions in Chicago.

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