1953 Bowman Baseball Black-and-White Complete Set, Stengel PSA 6 (64)

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/25/2021

Presented is a highly collectible example of the important 1953 Bowman Baseball Black-and-White set, the complementary issue that is identical to its more-beloved counterpart, the 1953 Bowman Color set, in almost every respect, except for the obvious. Limited to 64 cards and matching in size at 2 ½-by-3 ¾ inches, these black-and-white treasures were headlined by four Hall of Famers, the most notably being Casey Stengel, the most expensive card in the issue and found here in a sparkling PSA 6 slab. The offered set is in a condition a bit better than these difficult cards are typically found in mature collections, essentially evenly divided between Ex-Mt to Near-Mint (48 percent) and Good to Excellent (52 percent). Centering is broadly as might be expected, with perhaps 1/3 of the group with the kind of centering that might prompt thoughts of an upgrade, though not all of those would be severe enough to dictate a formal off-center designation. Here’s the breakdown: Near-Mint (3) – No. 17 o/c, 18 o/c and 26; Ex-Mt (27) – No. 8 o/c, 12, 15 Mize, 16, 22 o/c, 30 o/c, 31 o/c, 33, 34 o/c, 35 o/c, 38, 39 Stengel – PSA 6, 41, 43, 44 o/c, 45 o/c, 49, 50, 51, 52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 63; Excellent (11) – No. 1 Bell – PSA 5, 6, 7, 10, 23, 29, 37, 46, 55 and 64; VG-Ex (4) – No. 2, 9, 19 and 21; Very Good (10) – No. 3, 11, 14, 24, 25, 27 Lemon, 28 Wilhelm, 32, 42 and 47; and Good (9) – No. 4, 13, 20, 36, 40, 48, 53, 54 and 62.