Daughter of card collector donates nearly 90,000 trading cards to South Lyon senior center for auction

SOUTH LYON, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The daughter of a longtime card collector donated nearly 90,000 trading cards to a South Lyon senior center.

Coreen Squire used to work at the Center for Active Adults.

She said her father, William Squire, collected cards for decades, going to card events, and was even lucky enough to get some of them signed.

The collection was left to Coreen Squire after he passed away.

"I would always see him at the table, looking at his cards. He was constantly going through his cards," she said. 

The collection contains trading cards of Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Mickey Mantle and more.

Squire tried to sell her father's collection to card collectors but said they didn't want to sort through the entire collection. She said they wanted her to pick out the best cards; a task that would be too much for Squire.

She eventually donated them to the senior center years ago. The center has struggled to get funding in the past.

The value of the collection could be in the ballpark of five figures.

Now, the center will hold an auction to sell the collection and the proceeds will go to building improvements as well as adding more programming for seniors.

"It's amazing what's in here," said Carrie Cavanaugh, director of the Center for Active Adults.

The auction will be held from May 16 through May 19 at the Center for Active Adults located at 1000 North Lafayette Street in South Lyon.

Sealed written bids will be accepted from 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 16 until 2 p.m. Friday, May 19. 

Viewings of the collection will be by appointment only and will be available during the four-day auction event from 12-8 p.m. 

Cavanaugh said she is grateful for the donation.

"The fact that we can take this collection and get it out there for someone else to enjoy, but then the benefits to our 4,800 members is tremendous," she said.