Spring Premium Live and Catalog Auction 2018 Closing May 5
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/6/2018
Presented here is a glorious photographic relic of Joe Jackson. During the brief period of this unfathomably rare, visually compelling piece's circulation, "Shoeless Joe" was among the most idolized and successful baseball players in the sport. He competed for the Cleveland team through all or parts of six seasons (1910-1915), and never batted for less than a still-lofty .338 yearly average. Once during this time, in 1911, he achieved the stratospheric level of .408. This depiction reveals Jackson in his mode of vitality, yet still provides enigmatic elements for the eye to analyze. His well-worn hat, his smile-that's-not-a-smile, and his essential inscrutability are here for the viewer to see, and these components afford a snapshot that's simply not available through other mementos from the era. This evocative image predates the notoriety that accrued through Jackson's White Sox service (and the purgatory that followed it), but the observer nevertheless senses drama in the future for this special photo's subject.
Here is a fundamentally unique, elemental portrait of Joe Jackson, offered in a virtually never-encountered form. This fabled rarity, measuring about 1-1/2" in diameter and devoting the entirety of its obverse to Jackson's likeness, background, and caption, is one of a scant few examples of its kind (... 5, perhaps? ... or 6?) confirmed to exist. Following Colgan's first insert release (E254 of 1909-11) and the updated "Red Border" discs (the subsequent E270), this piece, with its "Tin Tops" branding on the reverse, was distributed – apparently just momentarily – for a small interval in 1912. This is one of just two copies, in total, documented by PSA, and it's impossible to overstate the rarity, the importance, or the desirability of this superlative collectible.
Graded GD 2 by PSA. This item's indisputable highlight is its clear, black-and-white photograph, revealing a detailed facial portrayal. The reverse carries a small, inoffensive spot of surface chipping and very mild age-toning. Minimal evidence of handling is discernible at the border's perimeter and, again, the prized Jackson image is startlingly crisp. Technically Good condition, and, in view of its subject and its mystique, arguably the ultimate "type" card of its generation.