Tuesday, December 29, 2020

J=K Gibson Confirmed!

My days of collecting George Gibson cards go back to about 2006 or so. Since then I've tried to maintain a checklist of every Gibson card out there. At some point I should move it over to something more accessible like TCDB, but until then, it'll remain in a Google sheet (found here). 

Aside from back variations introduced by Helmar, which I do a generally poor job of keeping track of, additions to the Gibson checklist are generally few and far between.

But this year,  a card I had never seen before (in fact, I wasn't even convinced it existed) hit the auction block not once, but twice. Both times it was offered by Heritage, and so now, the checklist confirms that a 1912 J=K George Gibson exists!

Shown first, is the copy that Heritage Auctions auctioned back in June of this year -- my first time ever actually seeing an example of the Gibson card. Depending on how well you know your Gibson cards, it may remind you of his M101-2 or E125. This lot sold for $2100 including the buyer's premium.

Then, as if this card wasn't rare or something, Heritage Auctions auctioned another, better example, just this past December:

And just to show you have unpredictable prices are of, well, obscure players on obscure issues, this card, the obviously much nicer grade, though not as part of a lot, sold for $600 with the buyer's premium.

Sadly, neither example found its way into my collection. But maybe one day ;)

For now, I'm just happy to update the checklist and know the card actually exists!