Presented is one of the earliest commercially-produced American boxing cards. The 1860s CdV issues of John C. Heenan by Charles D. Fredricks & Co. were part of a commercial line called "Specialite." Fredricks' works are featured in many museum collections including the Smithsonian. In 1855 Fredricks opened a studio and gallery in New York and began selling images of famous people under the "Specialite" label. As commercially issued cards as opposed to commissioned photos the "Specialite" CdVs fall under the accepted definition of "card." That Heenan is on the first American boxing cards makes sense. He was acknowledged as the Heavyweight Champion of America from 1859-1863 and traveled to England in 1860 to fight Tom Sayers in the first international heavyweight championship bout. His celebrity was in full blook when he posed for Fredricks. One of four known Heenan poses from this photo session copyright dates on the mounts are either 1861 or 1862. There are later produced versions of the same images on different mounts so it is critical to differentiate between the issues. There is one version known on a Fredricks mount that lacks the copyright notice and the "Specialite" designation on the reverse which results from an 1870 change to the copyright system. Beginning in July of 1870 Congress centralized copyright registration in Washington rather than at District Courts across the country. Consequently the copyright notice format shown on the earliest "Specialite" cards was abandoned in 1870. As for the dates printed on the front of the pre-1870 cards the copyright registration date indicates when the image was submitted to the District Court for registration as opposed to the date the images where shot or the CdV itself was made. However the combination of the copyright date the "Specialite" designation with just one Fredricks studio listed (later CdVs listed three studios) and the copyright notice format indicates that the "Specialite" CdVs bearing these markings were manufactured prior to 1870. Unfortunately that is about as close as we can get to determining the manufacturing dates of these cards. Regardless the "Specialite" cards are at least 17 years older than the N167 Old Judge set and thus are the first commercially-issued American boxing cards. This particular example has received a grade of FAIR 20 by SGC largely due to pencil notations on the reverse along with some wear consistent with the grade. Regardless this is the highest-graded example we could find on SGC's population reports. The imag