We have long been fascinated with the 1921 Herpolsheimer’s issue, and were stunned when, in early 2019, a person posted on the Net54 Baseball message board about a new find of 1921 Herpolsheimer cards. The cards were discovered stored away in an old Band-Aid box as part of an estate just miles from Grand Rapids, the location of the Herpolsheimer department store. Over the years we stayed close to the owner of the cards, astonished at the fact that while much of the hobby continued to be under the impression that the 1921 Herpolsheimer cards were one-of-a-kind, possible “prototype” cards, we knew otherwise – that there were more, including a number of cards that became the second known examples. In our opinion, this discovery dramatically increases the likelihood that the cards were actually distributed to the public somehow through the Grand Rapids store, and are simply unbelievably rare.

One of the key cards in the Band-Aid Box find features Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, among the most coveted cardboard subjects of this era.  This card, just the second known example from the 1921 Herpolsheimer's issue, has been graded GOOD 2 (MK) by PSA due to overall wear consistent with the grade, yet the eye appeal of the card is quite strong.  Regardless of the numerical grade, we do not recommend that Speaker collectors wait around for a higher-grade example to unearth itself; the 19 years between the first and second finds of 1921 Herpolsheimer's cards speak to their extreme rarity.

Final note: Early this morning we published a blog entry titled "An Extraordinary Piece of Hobby Research," which chronicles a brand-new discovery that solves the mystery of how and when the 1921 Herpolsheimer's cards were distributed.  We invite you to review the research that answers these questions, and also direct your attention to a newly-posted print advertisement from the Grand Rapids Press that features these cards.  You can view the blog entry at https://loveofthegameauctions.com/an-extraordinary-piece-of-hobby-research/