How rare and valuable are Cameo Pepsins?

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Posted By: Rhys

Between my brother and myself, we have owned about 12-15 of these in the last 10 years. They used to pop up on ebay about every 2-3 months one would surface back about 4-5 years ago. Now you are lucky to see 3 a year on ebay. I have theories about how they were produced and distributed but they are just theories as nobody really knows for sure. However, there are MANY Cameo Papsin pins which are uncatalogued, and most of the ones that are catalogued are either unique, or there are no more than 2-3 examples known. I have seen 3 seperate Cap Anson's before but that is because of his popularity and he probably was "chosen" and distributed more than others. I have never seen another pin in which there were duplicates to examine. Kit Young found a small handful of Cedar Rapids players about 4 years ago but many of them are STILL uncatalogued. My personal guess is that about 1/2 the set is catalogued in the SCD Price Guide and there are still new discoveries being made which would diminish that percentage fairly easily. They are found with either Cameo Pepsin paper backings, or simple advertising backs for Whitehead and Hoag (the pin manufacturer). Another problem with these pins is that they are made of Celluloid which is a very fragile material and a small scratch or blemish will expand over time if kept in humid environments. This probably led to the demise of many Cameo Pepsins over the years as well. They are extremely rare but only a handful of people in the hobby actively persue them and because they are a pin and not a card they only appeal to certain tastes. Hope that helps a little.

Rhys
Prewarsports