Posted By:
Eric BrehmI think cards that are scarce in high grade may carry a mystique of scarcity that carries over to lower grades, even though they may not actually be particularly scarce in the lower grades.
1933 Goudey #1 Bengough is probably scarce in high grade because it is the #1 card in the set and was thus subject to more abuse, and also because it is part of the low number series of 48 cards that were printed on the first two production sheets (card #'s 1-40 and 45-52), where lower quality paper stock was used.
Here are PSA population stats in each grade for the Bengough card, compared with averages for the low numbers as a group and for the set as a whole:
PSA 1-2: Bengough = 93 ..... Avg low number = 26 ..... Avg all cards = 22
PSA 3-4: Bengough = 82 ..... Avg low number = 50 ..... Avg all cards = 51
PSA 5: Bengough = 13 ....... Avg low number = 23 ..... Avg all cards = 29
PSA 6: Bengough = 11 ....... Avg low number = 15 ..... Avg all cards = 21
PSA 7: Bengough = 15 ....... Avg low number = 15 ..... Avg all cards = 19
PSA 8: Bengough = 7 ........ Avg low number = 10 ..... Avg all cards = 14
PSA 9: Bengough = 1 ........ Avg low number = 0.4 .... Avg all cards = 0.9
total: Bengough = 234 ...... Avg low number = 143 .... Avg all cards = 163
I suspect that there are more graded Bengoughs than would be expected based on its true scarcity alone, because the card is relatively more valuable and thus more likely to get slabbed. This is apparently true even in the lower grades. In any case, it is clear that the card is not scarce in grades below PSA 5.