1929 Babe Ruth “Star Picture Stamps” Exhibit Coupon Back

[glchen]

A 1929 Babe Ruth “Star Picture Stamps” Exhibit was recently sold on ebay here: Link. I was not the winner of this card, and I've attached front and back scans. This card has a coupon back on it, which I have never seen before. Has anyone else seen one of these before?

Typically, this card has a postcard back. Here's an example: Postcard Example

The coupon back normally does not appear until the 1931-32 Ruth Portrait Exhibit. Here is an example of a coupon back: Coupon Example. And here is an example of this card with a postcard back: Postcard Example. The regular 1931-32 Exhibits also have coupon backs: Link.

Does anyone know how why this card was dated to 1929? Perhaps, it should be dated to 1929-31 or even 1931-32 like the other Coupon back Exhibits.

[Exhibitman]

The short answer is that it is dated to 1929 because that is the copyright date on the card front. When the mfg tells you the issue date it is best not to overthink it.

[Leon]

Very neat type back I haven't seen before on that card. Always something new in the old stuff . Thanks for posting it, Gary.

Originally Posted by glchen

A 1929 Babe Ruth “Star Picture Stamps” Exhibit was recently sold on ebay here: Link. I was not the winner of this card, and I've attached front and back scans. This card has a coupon back on it, which I have never seen before. Has anyone else seen one of these before?

Typically, this card has a postcard back. Here's an example: Postcard Example

The coupon back normally does not appear until the 1931-32 Ruth Portrait Exhibit. Here is an example of a coupon back: Coupon Example. And here is an example of this card with a postcard back: Postcard Example. The regular 1931-32 Exhibits also have coupon backs: Link.

Does anyone know how why this card was dated to 1929? Perhaps, it should be dated to 1929-31 or even 1931-32 like the other Coupon back Exhibits.

[Exhibitman]

The coupon itself first appears on baseball cards in 1927, hand stamped on an occasional card. Here are examples from 1927:




It went full-printed in 1928 on various series of cards. By 1929 it was all over the place, as on this 1929 copyright office file copy of a 1929 Tenderfoot card:



Here is a page from a 1930 Exhibit catalog explaining their coupon plan.

[EvilKing00]

never seen that back before either - thanks for posting it!

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The short answer is that it is dated to 1929 because that is the copyright date on the card front. When the mfg tells you the issue date it is best not to overthink it.

Thanks for the replies. I never noticed the copyright until you pointed it out, and it's right on the front of the card! I completely understand the dating of the card now. I figured that this card wasn't that rare, but this is the first time that I've seen the coupon back on it. I had also never seen a coupon back on any of the 1929-30 4-1 Exhibits. Therefore, I thought that this may have been a second printing, but who knows.