1916 M101-5 Sporting News #176 Jim Thorpe - Newly Discovered!

Sold For:

$17,400

Year:

1916

Auction:

2020 Spring

Lot #:

705

Category:

Prewar Baseball - 1910s and 1920s Cards

Graded FAIR 1.5 by SGC (submitted by REA). This extremely rare and desirable M101-5 Sporting News card features the legendary Jim Thorpe, and is one of only a handful of cards of Jim Thorpe issued during his playing days as a baseball Major Leaguer, when he was a member of John McGraw's New York Giants. The offered card is one of the highlights from a 1910s and 1920s caramel-card collection, all of which is consigned to this auction. Thorpe's brief baseball career in the Majors lasted parts of just six seasons (1913-1919), an era in which very few card sets were issued. The only two major card issues featuring Thorpe individually as a Major Leaguer are the 1916 M101-5 Sporting News and the 1912-era E270-2 Colgan's Chips. (The 1922 Zeenut of Thorpe, also a great rarity, features Thorpe in the PCL.) Despite the appropriately modest grade, this is an extremely attractive example of one of the most classic and sought-after of all Jim Thorpe cards. The card has a perfectly focused image, evenly rounded corners, and virtually flawless centering. The heavy creasing accounts for the assigned grade. The blank back is lightly soiled with a few scattered black marks. This is a very unusual, rarely offered, and extremely desirable low-grade example of this classic card, providing a relatively affordable alternative to a far more expensive high-grade example. Reserve $1,000. Estimate (open).