1950-1956 Callahan Hall of Fame Complete Master Set (91): #7 PSA Set Registry (8.44 GPA)

Sold For:

$14,220

Year:

1950

Auction:

2012 Spring

Lot #:

538

Category:

Postwar Baseball - 1950s Cards

Extraordinary high-grade complete 1950 Callahan Hall of Fame Set. Presented is one of the finest and most stunning high-grade complete master sets of this classic issue ever assembled in the history of collecting and by far the finest we have ever seen or offered. Every card in the set is PSA graded. The 8.44 GPA rating puts this set at 7th place in the PSA Set Registry (it can be found on the registry listed as "REA Spring 2012"). Issued annually from 1950 to 1956, the Callahan Hall of Fame card set was the official set of the Hall of Fame. It was updated each year until 1956 with the inductees from that year as well as some corrections and updates. The end result is a 91 card set, including 9 cards with two variations. The cards released in the later years of the set, and some of the variations, are very rare, making the task of assembling a complete 91 card master set in any condition difficult (with only around 10 complete sets in existence on the PSA registry). The set is comprised of twenty-five cards graded MINT 9, seventeen graded NM-MT+ 8.5, forty-seven graded NM-MT 8, one graded NM+ 7.5, and one graded NM 7. The complete PSA condition composite follows: MINT 9: Barrow, Bresnahan, Brouthers, Bulkeley, Cartwright, Chandler, Chesbro, Cobb, DiMaggio, W. Johnson, Keeler, Kelly, Landis, Mathewson, McGinnity, O'Rourke, Ott, Plank, Ruth, Terry, Tinker, Waddell, Wagner, Walsh, and Young. NM-MT+ 8.5: Burkett, Chance, E. Collins (bio "Eddie had every"), Comiskey, Duffy, Evers, Ewing, Foxx, Frisch, Gehrig, Griffith, Hornsby, Lyons, Mack, McGraw, Nichols, and Wright. NM-MT 8: Alexander, Anson, Baker, two Bender (both variations), Brown, Chadwick, Clarke, two Cochrane (both variations), E. Collins (bio "He was brilliant"), J. Collins, Connolly, Cummings, Dean, Delahanty, two Dickey (both variations), Gehringer (white cap), Grove, Hartnett, two Heilmann (both variations), Hubbell, Jennings, B. Johnson, Klem, Lajoie, Maranville, McCarthy, Pennock, Radbourn, W. Robinson, Schalk, Simmons, two Sisler (both variations), Spalding, Speaker, Traynor, Vance, Wallace, two P. Waner (both variations), Wright, Museum Interior (1954), and Museum Exterior ("to all"). NM+ 7.5: Museum Exterior ("playing days"). NM 7: Museum Interior (no date). Twenty-three cards are the highest-graded examples in the entire PSA Population Report. The consignor has invested years in assembling and upgrading this set one card at a time with an uncompromising commitment to the condition and eye-appeal of each card. Every card in the set is a pack-fresh gem with perfect gloss. Only two cards grade under PSA NM-MT 8, with an amazing forty-three cards grading PSA MINT 9 or PSA NM-MT+ 8.5. Most of the key cards are graded PSA MINT 9, including the Joe Dimaggio (only offered in 1955), Albert Chandler (only offered in 1950), and the original five HOF inductees (Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson). As previously noted, the set includes an amazing twenty-three cards that are the highest graded examples in existence, with none graded higher. This is an extraordinary high-grade complete set of one of card collecting's most overlooked 1950s issues. The total SMR value for the individual cards is $27,681 (there is no SMR value for the NM-MT+ 8.5 grade, so the seventeen examples graded at this level were calculated using the NM-MT 8 value), and this does not begin to take into account the tremendous amount of time, energy, and effort that have been invested in its assembly. Total: 91 cards. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $14,220