This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/22/2010
The single finest example on record in the hobby! The presented Wm. Blair & Company trade card was issued to advertise the famous "Dark Town Battery" mechanical bank, easily one of the most popular pieces of this elite collectibles genre, if not the most famous of them all. As advertised, "Place a coin in the hand of the Pitcher, press the lever, and the coin is swiftly pitched. As the batter misses, it is safely deposited by the catcher. The movements of all the figures are very life like. Nicely finished in fancy colors." Indeed! According to hobby sources, very few examples of this trade are believed to have been produced, with less than a dozen known surviving examples. No copies have ever surfaced at PSA, and SGC reports just 2 on record, with the offered EX/NM 6 specimen the highest graded among them. Boasting tremendous appeal for both baseball card and mechanical bank enthusiasts, as well as Negro League and blackface collectors, this historically significant and extremely scarce trade card is a masterpiece of the genre and unquestionably the most coveted baseball or bank trade card ever produced. Minor EX/MT to NM wear at the corners appears to account for the seemingly conservative technical opinion from SGC, as the piece showcases a remarkably well-preserved NM/MT overall appearance, highlighted by intense, kaleidoscopic period lithography by Gast & Co. out of New York. Stare at it long enough, and you'll soon find yourself transported to 1880s America!