November 17, 2022: Fall Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/17/2022
Offered is an impressive grouping of the groundbreaking 1964 Philadelphia Gum Football set, cards that present in a uniform and consistent fashion, essentially Very Good to Excellent, with some above and below the range; many of the key Hall of Famers and Rookies are among the missing, though the array does feature a dozen Hall of Famers as indicated below. After several years of wrangling over exclusive player contracts between the entrenched National Football League and its new rival the American Football League, the contentious maneuvering spilled over into the cardboard realm as 1964 unfolded. After almost a decade of producing cards of the NFL, Topps lost that contract to the Philadelphia Gum Co., which would produce cards for the older league for four seasons starting that fall. Of such historic note comes this inaugural issue, a striking compilation of truly nice condition cards from that first-ever offering. A breakdown of the keys: No. 1 Berry – Ex-Mt-Plus, 8 Parker – Ex-Mt-Plus, 12 Unitas – Ex-Mt-Plus, 15 Atkins – Very Good, 62 Lary – Near-Mint, 91 Olsen – Nr-Mt, 140 Marshall – Ex-Mt-Plus, 114 – Good (mk), 124 Tittle – VG-Ex, 144 Johnson – VG, 164 St. Clair – VG, 184 – Good, 189 Mitchell – VG-Ex and 197 Checklist – VG (mk).
1964 Philadelphia Gum Football Partial Set (97/198)
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