1916 M101-4 Green Joyce #192 J. Owen Wilson

Sold For:

$240

Year:

1916

Auction:

2015 Fall

Lot #:

255

Category:

Prewar Baseball - 1910s and 1920s Cards

Graded VG+ 45 by SGC (submitted by REA). Presented is an attractive, midgrade example of #192 J. Owen Wilson (St. Louis Cardinals) from the M101-4 series featuring an extremely scarce Green Joyce advertising reverse. The M101-4 (and the closely related M101-5) set is commonly referred to as Sporting News (in honor of its most prominent sponsor), but cards were actually issued with a variety of advertising backs as well as with blank backs. To date, only fifty-five examples featuring a Green Joyce back (of all players) have been graded by SGC. While exact population numbers for ungraded examples cannot be known, in their extensive research into the M101-4/5 sets and their advertising backs (http://www.oldcardboard.com/m/m101-4/m101pop.asp), hobby scholars Tim Newcomb and Todd Schultz estimate that Green Joyce cards are among the most difficult to find (along with Everybody's, Holmes to Homes, and Mall Theatre) and account for less than one percent of the entire M101-4/5 production run of all back varieties (Green Joyce has only been confirmed to appear on M101-4 cards). Interestingly, we believe this is the first Green Joyce card we have handled in at least a decade! While this card will be appreciated by collectors for its rarity and not its technical grade, it remains an extremely attractive example, with a crisp image, flawless contrast, strong corners, and only a faint vertical crease along the right side. The reverse advertisement for Green Joyce is perfectly bold and crisp. This is an extremely striking example featuring an ultra-rare back advertisement from one of the most important baseball-card issues of the era.  Reserve $200. Estimate (open).