Top 100 Negro League Cards of All-Time

[bcbgcbrcb]

Good questions, Steven. As far as number of cards known for each of the Top 10, here are some approximate numbers (they are all VERY scarce):

Punch Lloyd (3-5)
Harrison Gibson (1)
Mallorquina Dihigo (1-2)
Punch Hill (4-6)
Punch Mendez (4-6)
Cabanas Hill (2-4)
Toleteros Gibson (12-18)
Doble Dihigo (3-5)
Gutierrez Charleston (15-25)
Billiken Charleston (15-25)

This list takes into account rarity, player selection and value above condition and does not include the short-print anomalies such as the Caramelo Reyes, etc.

[T206DK]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Good questions, Steven. As far as number of cards known for each of the Top 10, here are some approximate numbers (they are all VERY scarce):

Punch Lloyd (3-5)
Harrison Gibson (1)
Mallorquina Dihigo (1-2)
Punch Hill (4-6)
Punch Mendez (4-6)
Cabanas Hill (2-4)
Toleteros Gibson (12-18)
Doble Dihigo (3-5)
Gutierrez Charleston (15-25)
Billiken Charleston (15-25)

This list takes into account rarity, player selection and value above condition and does not include the short-print anomalies such as the Caramelo Reyes, etc.

wasn't the Caramelo Reyes card only available if you took your album to the factory ? great work on the list also !!

[Kenny Cole]

Interesting post, Phil. As a matter of personal preference, I would probably move some of the top 20 around a bit, but I think overall, your list is very well thought out. Best,

Kenny

[ethicsprof]

nothing to add except to say that this list and the research and time invested is most impressive.
many thanks for sharing.
best,
barry

[ElCabron]

This is a cool list, Phil, but where in the world are you getting your population numbers from? Actually, I know you're just making them up with your best guesses, but I'm not sure how responsible that is when there are probably going to be people to use your list or this thread as a whole as a reference source. Some cards which have one known example are listed as having a population of one. Others are listed as 2-4. Some aren't even known to exist at all, like the Mallorquina Willie Foster. Unless you know something I don't, there are zero examples of that card known.

Also, Denia should be 1951-52, not 1950-51.

I'm not trying to be too nitpicky and won't get into anything about the order (Irvin ahead of Charleston, seriously?) because we all have our own preferences and opinions on those. All in all, this is great work and I appreciate that you've put it together.

It would be interesting to see a list of specific examples of cards and how they'd rank. For example, the top of my list would be the SGC 84 Billiken Oscar Charleston. Also, there's a Punch Mendez with backing. That's hugely different than a skinned one and way more important. In fact, there's a Punch Padron with backing that I'd probably put ahead of 80% of the cards on the list.

It would also be really interesting to see how some of the other Negro League experts would rank their top 100 lists.

Thanks for your efforts!

-Ryan

[bcbgcbrcb]

You are correct, Ryan, those numbers were my best guesses and I beleive that they at least give potential collectors an idea if a card is realistic to shoot for, i.e. - not too much difference between 0, 1 or 2 copies existing, the main idea being that the card is near-impossible to come by as compared to a Billiken Charleston or Toleteros Gibson, which can be found if you have the $$'s to spend.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It's interesting (to me anyhow) that despite their tremendous longevity, neither Satchel Paige nor Cool Papa Bell have any Negro League cards.