D383 Koester Bread

Can anyone ramble on about this set and give me a better understanding about it? At first glance, it looks to be a commemorative issue for the early 1920s WS matchups between the Giants and the Yankees? They seem to look like the generic E121 designs of the era. I'd be interested in any insight into them, since it has a neat checklist including Jesse Burkett as a chubby, aging Giants coach.

You pretty much hit it on the head. They are almost impossible to tell apart from e121s except for the blank backs. There are also a few players in that set that are not in the e121 set.

Hmm. After doing some reading it seems that these were sheet cut cards? If so, does anyone know how to distinguish them from W575-1s if they're blank backed?

You can't as far I know. That's why I am baffled that there is a Ruth slabbed as Koester Bread. There are 2 or 3 cards that are only found in that set and not others, so those can be definitively called Koester Bread cards. Beyond that, it's a crap shoot.

As Jay mentioned, it is very difficult to tell a Koester from a W575-1. While I don't remember the exact details, I do recall the Koester Ruth walking into the Philly show while I worked at SGC. I believe the gentleman that had the card also had at least one of the subjects unique to the Koester set. He had done thorough research into the set and pointed out to the SGC graders that there was a minute difference in the typesetting between Koesters and W575-1s. I seem to recall that it was something as minor as an incomplete comma or slight difference in font. When he pointed this out between the Koester common and a common W575-1, the difference was apparent, but it was not something that you would pick up on a) without it being pointed out or b) without having the benefit of comparing a definitive Koester to a W575.

Brian