Uhh, WOW...1910 Punch Cobb

I apologize if anyone thinks I am "outing" this card, but it is listed in the correct category so I dont think anyone is going to miss it regardless.

If this is real, its amazing. Has anyone seen a Punch Cobb before?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unique-Punch-1910-Baseball-CARD-Ty-Cobb-HOF-Cuba-/190401916285?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Baseball&hash=item2c54d6ad7d

not my area but if it's real, just think of the bidders it'll attract...passionate cobb collectors and zealot cuban collectors. who will win out?

Wow is right - absolutely incredible card! I've seen maybe 2-3 other Punch cards sold in my time collecting, but never a HOFer , and definitely never a Cobb. It looks good to me - Punch cards are typically found in ragged condition. It would be really tough to fake that photo and border convincingly. This Cobb actually in far better shape than your average 1910 Punch card. The only major flaw is the back damage. This auction will get alot of attention and we can expect a HIGH final price.

Here's a nice little profile on the 1910 Punch set from the Cubanball.com website:

http://www.cubanball.com/Images/BBCards/CCpre45/Punch/punch.html


ps. no worries about "outing" here. We'll let the other boards bicker about that kind of stuff

I'll add that it's even tougher to find the Punches with the cardboard border around them like this super duper awesome Jose Mendez card, again from the cubanball website. Not sure if they were originally issued with this border, or if it's the just the backing from an album that they were cut out of. Can anyone confirm?

Has anyone ever seen them out of a pack? I've never pulled punches before.

Ben: I believe that some of the Punch set had the more ornate border, it could have indicated team affiliation. I haven't seen but three with that border and they were all with Habana. Of course, your Mendez card refutes that theory, since he was on the Almendares club.

Ben,

The ornate borders are period. Very, very few examples have the border. I remember holding the Mendez a few years ago and talking about its borders with its owner. If my memory serves correct, they were issued with the borders, a thin photo mounted on to a thicker, ornate backing. Furthering this, the Almendares card has an advertisement on the back of the card, the mount. The border-less examples lack an advertising back.

Also, the Cobb is very real and nice. I've seen one other, it may have possibly been in a large lot of Detroit Tigers Punch cards.

Thanks for the info Zach, good to know about the borders. I suppose one could expect an example with borders to sell for a significant premium then. This is a very intriguing set. Here's a scan of a photocopy of an album page of Punches found on the cubanball website. Not sure if it reveals anything we didn't know, but still cool to see:

A card of which very few examples exist, and which would grade authentic, at best; could be cleaned to yield a much improved appearance without affecting its grade. Since the cost is not likely prohibitive to have this done in this case, would you have it cleaned and slabbed?
Or do you think that it can get a numerical grade?

I bet no one wins this since the buyer probably has a 5 figure reserve.



Mark

Reserve was met. Sitting at $4999 with 56 minutes left.

Wow.....11K final price.

holy schnikes!

Some spirited bidding at the end, but still a very good deal for the winner imo. Easily one of Cobb's toughest cards in very reasonable condition for the issue. I think that front has some smudges that can probably be cleaned off. The problem is the back. It will be interesting to see if it ends up in a PSA/SGC holder and if it does, whether it will receive a numerical grade. Either way, one of the best cards to hit ebay in the past few years.