The tin, which sports an old-timey baseball player on its cover, was sold by Miller and Miller Auctions Ltd.Supplied
Going once, going twice, 3 Strikes you’re out.
An early-1900s tobacco tin sold at an auction Sunday in New Hamburg, Ont., for $55,000, five times its presale estimate.
The lithographed flip-lid container of the 3 Strikes brand of plug tobacco was discovered during the renovation of a turn-of the-century Ontario house.
The winning bidder was Vancouver tin-can collector Glen Paruk, a 75-year-old practising lawyer.
“Can’t go shopping like this without keeping practising,” he told The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Paruk’s wife found out what her husband had spent soon after the hammer went down on the tobacco tin, one of only seven known to exist.
“I can tell you that she gave me a very thorough frown,” Mr. Paruk confirmed.
The tin, which sports an old-timey baseball player on its cover, was sold by Miller and Miller Auctions Ltd. The consignors, John and Tina Staples of Kingsville, Ont., had discovered it while renovating their bathroom more than 15 years ago.
Not knowing its value, they used the vintage container as a kitschy knick-knack in their home.
When advance online bidding reached $29,000, Mr. Staples told The Globe he was “flabbergasted.” After the tin sold for $55,000, the retired HVAC designer said he was “still flabbergasted.”
Mr. Staples said he planned to invest the money in a tax-free savings account.
The tin was found inside the walls of the Staples’s house. Carpenters were known to leave empty tins behind while building houses. Undisturbed for a century, the 3 Strikes tin was in remarkable shape.
“It is the Holy Grail of tobacco tins,” said Ben Lennox, head of sales at Miller and Miller.
For the winning bidder, the antique piece marks an acquisition a long time in coming. Mr. Paruk, known in collecting circles and on eBay as TinCanada, had begun obtaining tin cans in 1978 as a law student in Victoria.
He once owned one of the rare 3 Strikes tins but sold it some 30 years ago to help finance a house he was building.
“I’ve been missing it ever since,” he said, “and not really expecting to ever replace it.”
Mr. Paruk would not divulge how much he was paid for his first 3 Strikes tin. “I can’t say things like that, but it was way, way, way less than this one I just purchased.”
