If he had sold it earlier, he’d still have most of the money.
If he had put that money in a growth mutual fund, it might be worth six figures today. Of course, his ex-wife would have gotten half in the divorce...lol.
My mom tossed out my baseball card collection when they moved from CA to Oregon. I probably had the complete Topps collection from 64-68, including a couple of Nolan Ryan rookie cards.
I gave her a not so hard time about it, though. I did set a few cards aside that I'll give to my sons. They'll probably be worth something to their grandchildren. There's a couple of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantles, both from 64-65.