Many readers are convinced that a piece of Helen Keller memorabilia could not possibly be real.
Keller, noted as being a deaf and blind humanitarian, educator, and writer who wrote 12 books, has been swept up by the latest craze of memorabilia resale.
‘What a time to be alive.’
In fact, the genre is nearly unheard of, as it exists as a hybrid of two separate collector’s items: trading cards and historical signatures.
That’s right, Keller’s signature was just auctioned off as a trading card — and it is authentic.
Rookie season
The Topps official “Helen Keller Cut Signatures 1/1” card was sold in a live auction on eBay for $3,551. For those thinking the card may be fake or a concoction created by a savvy entrepreneur, Topps went ahead and shared the results on its social media pages, reporting that the card was “just sold” on Thursday.
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‘What a time to be alive’
The reactions online were less than stellar, as not only did readers not believe it was real, but they couldn’t fathom why anyone would pay for such a thing.
“Is it authentic,” one reply asked. “Or is it just a joke card that got bid on fairly high?”
“I thought this card was satire. Good lord,” another sad reader expressed.
“I had to check to see if this was a parody account,” a sports page chimed in to say.
Other onlookers accepted the event had taken place, but couldn’t resist pondering what it said about life in 2026.
“‘I just spent $3,551 on an autographed Helen Keller rookie card’ is a real sentence somebody said earlier today. What a time to be alive,” wrote Mike Beauvais, creator of streaming platform Quibi.
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Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Team player
This isn’t the only instance of Topps trading cards using American icons as a product line. Back in 2009, Topps released its American Heritage series that featured the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Frank Sinatra, and Martin Luther King Jr.
At the same time, it included two other iterations of Keller on trading cards. First, she was included under the American Heroes series that also showcased Thomas Edison. She was also included in the Presidential Medal of Freedom series that also featured Bill Cosby and Jackie Robinson.
For those looking to get their hands on graded Keller items, a card with her signature is currently listed for just under $2,200, while another seller is asking $500 or best offer for one of the 2009 Topps cards.
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