Lot # 603: Extremely Rare 1916 M101-4 Block & Kuhl Co. #72 Clark Griffith SGC VG/EX 4 - The ONLY Graded Example!

Graded VG/EX 4 by SGC. This is the ONLY example ever graded by SGC! (PSA has graded none.) Presented is an extremely rare card of Washington Senators Hall of Famer Clark Griffith from the M101-4 series featuring an extremely scarce Block & Kuhl Co. advertising reverse. The M101-4 (and the closely related M101-5) set is commonly referred to as Sporting News (in honor of its most prominent sponsor), but cards were actually issued with a variety of advertising backs as well as with blank backs. To date, only 38 examples featuring a Block & Kuhl back (of all players) have been graded by SGC (PSA has graded 21). While exact population numbers for ungraded examples cannot be known, in their extensive research into the M101-4/5 sets and their advertising backs (http://www.oldcardboard.com/m/m101-4/m101pop.asp), collectors Tim Newcomb and Todd Schultz estimate that Block & Kuhl cards are among the most difficult to find (along with Successful Farming, Burgess-Nash, and Ware's Basement) and account for less than one percent of the entire M101-4/5 production run of all back varieties (Block & Kuhl has been confirmed to appear both on M101-4 and -5 cards). Prior to this auction, we had handled only one Block & Kuhl card (of any player) in the past twenty-one years. The offered card displays a crisp image with excellent contrast, even corner wear, and centering toward the right. The reverse has the "Block And Kuhl Co." advertisement boldly printed in black. This is a striking example of Clark Griffith featuring an ultra-rare back advertisement from one of the most important baseball-card issues of the era. A worthy addition to even the most advanced Clark Griffith, Washington Senators, or type-card collection!