1887 N28 Allen & Ginter Charles Comiskey SGC 70 EX+

Charles Comiskey

(b. August 15, 1859 - d. October 26, 1931)

Charles Comiskey parlayed modest field success into managerial brilliance, later becoming the first former player to be sole owner of a major league franchise. The "Old Roman" assisted Ban Johnson in the formation of the American League. As owner of the Chicago White Sox, Comiskey earned a reputation as a cheapskate, and some historians feel that his parsimonious spending habits indirectly led to the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal.

Inducted in 1939

1887 N28 Allen & Ginter Charles Comiskey SGC 70 EX+


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Comments: I picked up a couple tribute cards of Comiskey - a 1984 Renata Galasso Deckle Edge card and a 1976 Shakey's Pizza card in April, 2003 off eBay. In November, the Comiskey was sent to PSA and graded NM-MT 8. In March, 2010 I replaced the tribute card with a 1887 N28 SGC 50 card after winning an eBay auction from Joseph Esposito (b-e-collectibles). I'd like to upgrade this one to an EX or EX-MT example.

UPDATE: In June, 2016 I found a potential Comiskey upgrade and eyeballed the auction daily until 6/8, the last night of the auction. The card looked sharp with good color and the price was comparable to values listed in the SMR for the grade. Here’s the screenshot with 30 seconds to go and my bid amount…

I submitted the bid with three seconds to go and winner, winner, chicken dinner, whatacard-you’re the winner!

UPDATE: Was following the Heritage Auction ending 08/27/2016 and a PSA 8 closed for $33,460 with juice - incredible! Here's the auction link.

UPDATE: In September, 2016 another PSA 8 showed up on eBay and sold:

Card Details Below:

Year(s):

1887

ACC Set Designation:

N28

Set Name:

Allen & Ginter

Country:

United States

Description:

This 50-card set was titled "The World Champions" and includes 10 baseball players, and 40 other sports personalities such as John L. Sullivan and Buffalo Bill Cody. The approximately 1-12" X 2-3/4" cards were inserted in boxes of Allen & Ginter cigarettes. The card fronts are lithographs on white card stock, and are considered among the most attractive cards ever produced. All card backs have a complete checklist for this unnumbered set, which includes six eventual Hall of Famers.

Example Allen & Ginter Advertising Poster

Example Allen & Ginter Cigarette Box