Sold! Rare turn-of-the-century tobacco tin sells for $55K at New Hamburg auction

A rare, nearly 125-year-old red and yellow pocket tin sold for an astounding $55,000 at a New Hamburg auction on Sunday.

When Ethan Miller, CEO of Miller & Miller Auctions, and his brother Justin came across the near mint condition 3 Strikes chewing tobacco tin, they knew they had just acquired a scarce piece of Canadian memorabilia.

Miller explained pocket tins in general are hard to come by, but a pocket tin in the highest grade condition "is huge."

"When Justin and I saw the image of this tin for the first time, we knew it was rare. There's been very little auction history on the sale of 3 Strikes tins," said Miller.

So little history, in fact, that this is only the seventh known example of this specific brand of tin to surface since it was produced in the early 1900s.

The small tin, made by the Erie Tobacco Company, is considered a "cross collectible" thanks to it being sports-themed.

"One of the coolest things ... is the fact that it's baseball themed," said Miller. "It has a ... turn-of-the-century, circa 1900, baseball player image on the front of the tin."

Something that drew in sports collectors and tobacco tin collectors alike.

"You can well imagine some of the bidding rivalry that we've seen."

A pre-auction bid had already fetched the tiny tin a cool $29,000 a few days before it was set to go up.

"When you get something rare in a desirable category and in very, very good condition you just never know how much it will command," said Ed Locke, a dealer of nostalgia for over 50 years.

The tin was discovered during a home renovation in Kingsville, Ont., around 200 metres from the original Erie Tobacco factory.

"I believe it was found in a wall cavity and a contractor that was working at the time passed it over to ... the family ... and said you might want this as a memento or a souvenir." said Miller. "Nobody knew the value."

Originally estimated at $9,000 to $12,000, the family was "gobsmacked" and had no idea the tin would sell for that much.

"Collectors can be a funny breed" said Miller. "Find something they need to complete their collection, and money is no object."