March 24, 2022: Spring Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/24/2022
Presented is a truly spectacular array of the coveted 1955 Bowman Baseball issue, the company’s final effort in a distinguished postwar stretch in the baseball card business before being absorbed by archrival Topps in 1956. The offered group is about as nice a pile of these 2 ½-by-3 ¾-inch classics that you will ever encounter, certainly the nicest array that we have handled in quite some time. Headlined by seven Hall of Famers (including a blazing Near-Mint-Plus card of our newest Hall of Famer, Minnie Minoso) and more than two dozen of the difficult high numbers, the group boasts exceptionally sharp corners, superb color and gloss and a remarkably uniform and consistent presentation, highlighted by the unique wood-grain television sets that appear to have just rolled off the assembly line. With just a wee bit of duplication, the array is broadly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint-Plus, with only four cards below the range, making it a great candidate to upgrade even the nicest existing set or launch on a high-grade new one. Overall, it comes out to 48 percent Near-Mint or better, 35 percent Ex-Mt-Plus, 12 percent Ex-Mt and just five percent below, mostly to VG-Ex. The breakdown: Near-Mint or better (39): No. 2, 4, 12, 15, 25 Minoso, 34 (2), 35, 36, 40 (2), 42, 42, 45, 55 (2), 56 (2), 66, 67 Larsen, 78, 108 (2), 111, 115, 128, 153, 159, 164, 187 (2), 192, 228, 241, 250, 261, 262 Lemon, 281 and 287 o/c; Ex-Mt-Plus (28): 29 Schoendienst, 38 Wynn (2), 64, 85, 108, 124, 126, 139, 171 Roberts, 192, 197 Kiner, 204, 206, 207, 208, 215, 216 Roe, 219, 243, 256, 275, 276, 288, 289, 290, 295 and 309; Ex-Mt (10): No. 138, 141, 149, 248, 259, 269, 278 Neal Rookie, 285, 299 and 311; VG-Ex (3): No. 155, 280 and 307; and Very Good: No. 240.
1955 Bowman Baseball High-Grade Group, Seven HOFers, 26 High Nos. (81)
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