Lot # 2374: 1925 Philadelphia Phillies Season Pass Issued to Charles Grakelow

Circular gold-colored metal season pass issued by the Philadelphia Phillies only to executives and dignitaries in honor of the National League's "Golden Jubilee" anniversary in 1925. This example was issued to Charles Grakelow, the president of the company that supplied pork products to National League Park (the Phillies’ home). The pendant features an elaborate patriotic baseball motif in raised relief on the front with a figure representing William Penn, the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania on top of Philadelphia's City Hall in a windup about to pitch, with a very detailed baseball field and game-in-progress scene in the background. The 1925 Phillies pass was issued during the same era as the popular Giants silver passes (which were issued from the late teens to 1931) but is virtually unknown in the collecting world due to its extreme rarity. The Giants silver passes were apparently quite widely distributed, possibly to season ticket holders as well as dignitaries. The fact that only a few 1925 Phillies Golden Jubilee passes have ever surfaced suggests that their distribution was probably limited exclusively to executives and dignitaries. This is only the third example we have offered in the past 21 years. "Philadelphia National League Base Ball Club" is lettered in gold on the surrounding blue enamel border. The reverse is engraved "National League P.B.B - Golden Jubilee - 1925 - Admit - Charles Grakelow - #73." This is a very rare and magnificently designed pass of the highest quality produced by the Phillies in honor of the National League's fiftieth anniversary celebration. In exceptional condition, with just a small nick on the bottom edge of the reverse, otherwise Near Mint. Diameter: approximately 1.5 inches.