At first glance, the 1922 W501 strip cards look an awful lot like your run of the mill E121 American Caramel cards or the W575-1 strip cards. But while similar, this is an entirely different type of card.
1922 W501 Strip Card Basics
The W501 Strip Cards are another black and white issue found in the 1920s. Those were sort of sandwiched between the smaller, colored lithographic caramel and tobacco cards and the larger, colored gum cards of the 1930s. Believed to be issued in 1922, the W501 set utilizes the same pictures and players of cards found in the E121 and W575-1 sets. However, they are distinctly different from both.
As a brief aside, W575-1 and E121 are closely related. W575-1 cards used the same images/players found in E121 and the primary difference is that the W575-1 cards are blank-backed while E121 cards have an American Caramel ad on the back. Further muddying the water is that there are two different E121 sets – one from 1921 and one from 1922. W501 cards are also blank-backed and can sometimes be confused for W575-1 cards.
The most notable characteristic on many of the W501 cards is a printed “G–4-22” along with a card number at the top. The G–4-22 designation is off to the left while the card number is in the upper right corner. Whenever you see those, it’s a sign that the card is from the W501 set and not a more common W575-1 card.
The G–4-22 printing remains a mystery to this day as the exact reason for its appearance is not known. It has been speculated, however, that it could have indicated an April 22nd printing.
The set is power-packed like its W575-1 and E121 counterparts, featuring cards of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and many other Hall of Fame players. A total of 120 cards are in the release.
W575-1 Confusion
The G–4-22 designation is what makes it easy to identify these cards. However, it is worth noting that, while the G–4-22 print is on many of the cards, it is not always found.
That often leads to those cards being classified as standard blank-backed W575-1 issues but, as pointed out in this Net54 thread, some collectors consider these types of cards as a second W501 subset type. W501 cards generally have a grainier picture than regular W575-1 cards, which is one way to tell them apart without the G–4-22 print.
Shown here is a card of George Burns from the W575-1 set.
W501 Rarity and Prices
W501 cards are relatively rare and the ones with the G–4-22 designation, in particular, are harder to find than the E121s or W575-1s. To date, PSA and SGC have combined to grade only about 425 of them, which is fewer than both of the other sets. Despite that, prices are relatively tame–at least for single cards.
In 2014, a Ruth graded SGC 35 sold for more than $4,200 at auction. An SGC 70 Ty Cobb card from the set sold for just $1,440 in 2017.
Mid-grade commons from the set typically start around $50-$75 with Hall of Famers and stars worth significantly more.
Complete sets are nearly impossible to find but have surfaced before. All 120 cards were presented in a Goodwin auction lot in 2012 and sold for nearly $8,000.
1922 W501 Checklist
1 Ed Rounnel (Rommel)
2 Urban Shocker
3 Dixie Davis
4 George Sisler
5 Bob Veach
6 Harry Heilman (Heilmann)
7a Ira Falgstead (Name Incorrect)
7b Ira Flagstead (Name Correct)
8 Ty Cobb
9 Oscar Vitt
10 Muddy Ruel
11 Derrill Pratt
12 Ed Gharrity
13 Joe Judge
14 Sam Rice
15 Clyde Milan
16 Joe Sewell
17 Walter Johnson
18 Jack McInnis
19 Tris Speaker
20 Jim Bagby
21 Stanley Coveleskie (Coveleski)
22 Bill Wambsganss
23 Walter Mails
24 Larry Gardner
25 Aaron Ward
26 Miller Huggins
27 Wally Schang
28 Tom Rogers
29 Carl Mays
30 Everett Scott
31 Robert Shawkey
32 Waite Hoyt
33 Mike McNally
34 Joe Bush
35 Bob Meusel
36 Elmer Miller
37 Dick Kerr
38 Eddie Collins
39 Kid Gleason
40 Johnny Mostil
41 Bib Falk (Bibb)
42 Clarence Hodge
43 Ray Schalk
44 Amos Strunk
45 Eddie Mulligan
46 Earl Sheely
47 Harry Hooper
48 Urban Faber
49 “Babe” Ruth
50 Ivy B. Wingo
51 Earle Neale
52 Jake Daubert
53 Ed Roush
54 Eppa J. Rixey
55 Elwood Martin
56 Bill Killifer (Killefer)
57 Charles Hollocher
58 Zeb Terry
59 G.C. Alexander (Arms Above Head)
60 Turner Barber
61 John Rawlings
62 Frank Frisch
63 Pat Shea
64 Dave Bancroft
65 Cecil Causey
66 Frank Snyder
67 Heinie Groh
68 Ross Young (Youngs)
69 Fred Toney
70 Arthur Nehf
71 Earl Smith
72 George Kelly
73 John J. McGraw
74 Phil Douglas
75 Bill Ryan
76 Jess Haines
77 Milt Stock
78 William Doak
79 George Toporcer
80 Wilbur Cooper
81 George Whitted
82 Chas Grimm
83 Rabbit Maranville
84 Babe Adams
85 Carson Bigbee
86 Max Carey
87 Whitey Glazner
88 George Gibson
89 Bill Southworth
90 Hank Gowdy
91 Walter Holke
92 Joe Oeschger
93 Pete Kilduff
94 Hy Myers
95 Otto Miller
96 Wilbert Robinson
97 Zach Wheat
98 Walter Ruether
99 Curtis Walker
100 Fred Williams
101 Dave Danforth
102 Ed Rounnel (Rommel)
103 Carl Mays
104 Frank Frisch
105 Lou DeVormer
106 Tom Griffith
107 Harry Harper
108a John Lavan
108b John J. McGraw
109 Elmer Smith
110 George Dauss
111 Alexander Gaston
112 John Graney
113 Emil Muesel
114 Rogers Hornsby
115 Leslie Nunamaker
116 Steve O’Neill
117 Max Flack
118 Bill Southworth
119 Arthur Nehf
120 Chick Fewster
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