This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/22/2010
As if Caramel cards weren't popular enough over the course of the last decade, one of the two superior examples of the presented E93 Standard Caramel Honus Wagner became the 15th highest-grossing baseball card on record when it sold for a staggering $220,000 just over a year ago, re-catapulting ultra high-grade Caramel issues into the stratosphere. Proudly offered in this lot is one of the finest E93 Wagners in the hobby, a recently graded SGC 88 NM/MT masterpiece that boasts identical high-grade qualities to its scant two superiors, save for a slightly more pronounced and self-evident centering preference for the right border. The top-to-bottom centering appears perfect, as does the registration of the relatively crude color tints used to bring "The Flying Dutchman" to life on this century-old candy card. The bold contrast and resulting details of Wagner's face are particularly pronounced, as is the separation in colors between Wagner's artistically off-centered, cut-out image and the brilliant candy red back-drop. All too often we encounter examples where the image and background colors overlap, bleeding into each other and thereby producing far inferior renditions of an already-crude albeit infinitely enchanting image. Another virtue of the offered pasteboard prize is the remarkably thorough saturation of the black colors of Wagner's cap and collar. E93 Standard Caramel cards are notorious for their spotting, which can be understood as a sort of precursor to the print "snow" we find on later Topps cards and perhaps even more similar to the way 1948-49 Leaf cards often rejected tiny spots of ink from the printing process. The result, at least on E93s, can be best observed on the PSA 4 E93 Wagner we're currently offering in another lot. Not only does that presentable mid-grade specimen show us the typical spottiness almost always encountered in Wagner's dark cap, but it also shows a good illustration of the aforementioned bleeding between the image and the backdrop, particularly in Wagner's shoulders. Turning back to our treasured SGC 88 copy, we see firsthand just how spectacular this piece de resistance really is. Nearly impeccable NM/MT+ corners join equally incisive if not better edges on all sides but the top, the back of which shows a gentle lip, typical of the issue and arguably, along with the obverse centering, one of the only grade appropriate features throughout. Finally, while there appear to be a few microscopic traces of the previously discussed spotting in the area of Wagner's right hip, the virtual absence of this essentially standard E93 characteristic in the areas of Wagner's face, cap, and the broad, red expanse of the upper left field truly separates this delectable gem from all but a few of the very finest examples in existence. Graded SGC 88 NM/MT 8 with none like it and none better at the Parsippany-based grading firm of SGC, long valued among pre-war collectors for its expertise in caramel and early tobacco cards, with just 2 like it and one higher in each the NM/MT+ 8.5 and MINT 9 categories at PSA. In summation, offered is one of the top 5 finest examples of what many collectors believe, and what recent-record breaking sales prove, is the greatest, most savored caramel card in the hobby. Sweet dreams!