One of only two known graded examples of the 1912 Boston Garter Frank Chance is now up for grabs.
Rated “Authentic” by SGC after a long ago collector stuck it to a thin backing of yellow paper, the card is being offered by Heritage Auctions in its current Summer Trading Card catalog. While Heritage has offered a few different Boston Garter cards from two different issues in recent months, they’re among the hobby’s rarest issues and the Chance appears on the way to bringing a five-figure price. The only graded example of Christy Mathewson from the same set sold for $84,000 three months ago.
Only two examples of Chance exist on SGC’s registry and PSA has yet to grade one. In all, only 15 1912 Boston Garter cards exist in SGC holders.
One of the most unique sets ever created, Boston Garter cards were a promotional giveaway by the company that specialized in a product designed to keep men’s socks up in an era before the invention of elastic. There are 16 cards in the 1912 set, featuring stars of the day lounging in the locker room, showing off the product. There was another group of cards issued by Boston Garter in 1914, meant for use as window displays in stores that sold them.
In addition to being adhered to a slightly larger piece of paper, the Chance card does have a loose right corner and some creasing and scuffing. It’s in the first of a three-part auction set to close July 18-20.
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