Posted By:
Jay MillerSorry about the test message. I was having trouble with the site before. You bring up an interesting concern about this card. Whether it is real or not I don't know. However, I do know a little of its history and since I heard about this card about four years ago there have been many question raised about it. First, the history. It was purchased about four years ago on ebay by the current consignor for about $500. Since I first heard about the card certain questions have troubled me:
1-If this card were part of some set, why in 110+ years has no other card, baseball or any other subject, appeared which has a format identical to this card. There are boxer cards which have a similar Gypsy Queen banner at the bottom of the card, but the Goodwin & Co. writing is different.
2- If the card is a proof, why would Goodwin & Co. think of making a seperate set of California League players. This (the West Coast) would have almost certainly been a limited market for Gypsy Queen cigarettes at that time.
3- All Gypsy Queens known share photos with Old Judge cards. This photo does not appear on an Old Judge card. The McDonald card in the Old Judge set (which Lew Lipset has advertised that he will auction off in the future)has an entirely different photo.
4-Goodwin & Co. was very careful to keep tabs on what teams players were on. This explains the wonderful job they did in updating the team designations on Old Judge cards. It is odd that they would mislabel McDonald's team as Greenwood and Morgans. A typo---perhaps--but unlikely on a proof.`
I would like to hear from knowledgeable dealers like MW and old time collectors to know if they have ever seen anything like this. I also wonder if any grading services reading this board would be willing to slab the card.