October 24, 2024: Fall Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/24/2024
Presented is what must surely be one of the more unusual and elegant 19th Century baseball artifacts, a stunning 12 ½-by-13-inch advertising display piece designed with two dozen of the rare 1887 Buchner Gold Coin cards. The unique display features cards intricately affixed to a backing, with “Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco Portraits of Leading Baseball Players” spelled out in bold, black letters, with portions of the printing touching every one of the 28 players shown. The 1 ¾-by-3-inch cards feature ostensibly generic player images in elegant paintings in various poses, with the cards printed on an uncommonly thick stock with the anticipated tobacco advertising on the reverse. The players are stacked seven across and four deep, with two cards missing on the top row in our specimen and two on the bottom. As noted above, the cards seem to be very carefully “affixed” to the backing in order to show the bold advertising message, but the two that have loosened suggest that little or no residue or paper loss is involved. Ultimately, this is a truly unique, perhaps one-of-a-kind 19th century artifact that has to be seen to be believed.
1887 Buchner Gold Coin N284 Card Advertising Display (24)
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