PSA 8 1960 Clay Exhibit??

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I don't think it was decertified. For some reason PSA refuses to grade anything except baseball Exhibit cards. That was not always the case, so there are a few other subject cards out there.

The sepia tone of the card indicates it was from a later print run, say mid-1960s.

If in fact it was graded but not decertified then it would be in the pop report, no? It's not. Or do they just zap the pop if they stop grading?

[Exhibitman]

I have no idea; I am not well versed in the workings of PSA. Makes my head hurt.

[D. Bergin]

Is it possible for any Ali/Clay exhibit to have come out in 1960? Seems like an awfully optimistic date speculation on the slab.

[Exhibitman]

No, thats bullshit. My guess has always been the Exhibit card is from around 1962-1963. The image they used looks like it is from a photo session that produced one of Ali's promos:



The very first Clay promo photo session took place in December 1960 in Miami. Here is a photo using that image, from 1963:



It is clearly earlier than the ESCO image. Now, here is a publicity photo from The Thrilla in Manila:



The first image is the same as the Exhibit image. They used that to illustrate the young man. The second image was used in the packet for the first Frazier fight but dates to the latter part of the 1960s.

Here is a rare ca. 1967 card of Ali:



From the extension of the Kid Herman set. I've also seen a lot of photos from a 1962 Stanley Weston session that look similar to the image but are of a younger man. So we are narrowing the window down to pre-forced retirement but post 1962. My guess is 1963 since Clay was decimating the ranks and becoming a top contender. Of course, we would need catalogs to pin it down.

Here's an uncut sheet:



Willie Pastrano won a title in 1963. As did Joey Giardello.

[swarmee]

Still in the pop report. Here is what I got on my search:
https://www.psacard.com/cert/30151430

PSA Certification #30151430
According to the PSA database, the requested certification number is defined as the following:

ITEM INFORMATION
Certification Number 30151430
Reverse Cert Number/Barcode No
Year 1960
Brand EXHIBITS BOXING (NO LONGER GRADING)
Sport BOXING/WRESTLING CARDS/MMA
Card Number
Player CASSIUS CLAY
Variety/Pedigree
Grade NM-MT 8
POPULATION
2
POPULATION W/QUAL
0
POPULATION HIGHER
0

[Exhibitman]

Further exploring dates, Sugar Ray Robinson is next to Clay on the sheet. Robinson's last fight of note was against Giardello in 1963. After that he went to Europe on a greedy bastard tour and fought a bunch of tomato cans with mixed results. My guess is that he was in the set because he was still considered a serious contender until Giardello beat him down on June 24, 1963. That would be consistent with a 1963 issue date.

[The Nasty Nati]

I have a black and brown version. Are there differences in dates between the two? Is one older than the other?

And I'd presume this Exhibits card would be considered Ali's American rookie card.