(LOT 27)
1912 Harper's Whiskey Honus Wagner Trade Card PSA 3 VG – The SOLE Example Listed on the PSA Pop Chart!
SOLE PSA EXAMPLE!!!... Presented here is one of the iconic Honus Wagner's most elusive cards, an extremely rare PSA 3 VG 1912 Harper's Whiskey trade card residing as the SOLE specimen on the illustrious PSA Pop Chart! While SGC's census report lists only two examples (an SGC 3 and 1.5), it has been brought to our attention that the SGC 3 was crossed over to this one and only PSA offering. Two German immigrants, Isaac and Bernard Bernheim, founded their alcohol trade, the Bernheim Brothers in Paducah, Kentucky in 1872, registering their I.W. Harper's Whiskey brand name in 1879. Ultra-popular with whiskey drinkers, I.W. Harper won a gold medal at the New Orleans Exhibition in 1885, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and two additional gold awards in Paris and St. Louis. By 1912, it was no secret that, along with Ty Cobb, the great Honus Wagner was still considered one of baseball's two greatest players, and it comes as no surprise that the Kentucky based I.W. Whiskey brand would want to utilize his image to market their legendary product.

The previous season, Wagner had claimed his then-record eight batting titles via an outstanding .334 mark, with Harper's Whiskey capitalizing on his batting prowess by placing an imposing and classic batting pose of the immortal Hans as well as a captivating series of captions reading: "MAKE A HIT – BY TAKING HOME A BOTTLE OF THE WINNING BRAND – I.W. HARPER – THE WHISKEY YOUR GRANDFATHER USED." The aforementioned four gold medal cities are listed across the bottom region, and the verso includes a complete 1912 International League schedule. The flipside also lists this trade card as being issued in Kentucky, with the assessment due to even corner wear, standard edge toning, modest areas of soiling in the lower left quadrant, a somewhat faint wrinkle in the upper right quadrant, and general surface wear. Issued some 112 years ago, it turns back the clock to an era when the immortal Wagner had already established himself as baseball's premier shortstop, a title he still unequivocally holds after a century of time. Only several examples of this exceedingly rare postcard-sized heirloom (3-3/4" x 5") are known to exist since its original 1912 inception, justifying why it merits a final resting place in one of the most celebrated Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner collections!

MIN BID $3,000
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