BIDDEFORD — Saco River Auction Company was filled with more than 150 people Wednesday and bidders were not only there to check out the latest items the company had up for auction, but to witness history.

Rare baseball cards dating from 1888 were found in a Kennebunk attic earlier in August. Those cards were up for auction Wednesday night, and the price paid for one of the rarest cards was $62,000.

“Having the cards has certainly created some excitement,” said Floyd Hartford, auctioneer and co-owner of Saco River Auction Company. “We’re a small Maine auction house with a limited crew, and the cards are drawing in a lot of people.”

The seven cards were of players from the Boston Beaneaters, a professional baseball team that later became the Atlanta Braves. The cards were part of the Old Judge Cabinets set and were produced by tobacco company Goodwin and Company.

They were larger cards that could be purchased by mail-in coupon only. Some of the cards in the series show the see strings holding baseballs in place because the camera technology wasn’t a point and click shot.

“You had to send in 35 packs of cigarettes just to get the cards. You only got one card at a time, too,” said Hartford.

One of the rarest cards from this series was Michael “King” Kelly. Kelly had multiple cards with different poses, but this one was significant because it featured Kelly in his street clothes.

“They probably threw away this Kelly card because he was in street clothes. They wanted somebody in a baseball uniform. That’s what started to make them so rare,” said Hartford.

Before the find earlier this August, there were only three King Kelly cards like this one known to exist. The Kelly card found in Kennebunk was sent out for grading, a process to determine the quality and condition of a card. Higher ratings make a card worth more in auctions and private sales. This card came back with the best grade out of any King Kelly “street clothes” card known.

On Wednesday, the collection brought in $88,700 excluding taxes and auction house fees. It took more than 40 minutes of back and forth bidding to sell all of the cards. The King Kelly card starting bid was $12,500 and increased by $1,000 up to $62,000. Two of the cards sold to members of the audience who all wished to remain anonymous. The other bidders, including the King Kelly card bidder, bid over the telephone from various states across the country.

“People come from all around just to look at the cards,” said Hartford. “We have gotten calls from all over the country.”

The other six cards were high-ticket items at the auction as well. Even though they were not as rare, they still fetched a high price. The John Clarkson card got $6,900 and Dan Brouthers ended at $6,500. Pop Smith sold for $2,900 and Joe Quinn was at $2,500. The last two cards in the auction were Billy Nash at $3,800 and Charlie Bennett bringing in $4,100.

This wasn’t the first time baseball cards sold for these prices. In the 1980s a Honus Wagner card sold for $25,000. It sold several times, even passing through hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and ended up with a price tag of $2.8 million paid by Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick.

“The Kelly card has never been to auction so there is no (price) history,” said Hartford before the auction.

Also in this auction was a bronze participation medal from the 1896 Athens Olympics that sold for $450 and a complete set of 1947 Indian gum cards that sold for $1,000. All total there were close to 450 items up for sale ranging from books, oil paintings, dolls and antiques.

The Saco River Auction Company will be holding its next auction on Sept. 19 and will feature several coin collections and firearms.