Lot # 879: 1948-1949 Leaf #8 Satchel Paige Rookie Short Print PSA EX 5

Graded EX 5 by PSA. Tremendous mid-grade example of 1948-1949 Leaf #8 Satchel Paige. This is one of card collecting's most iconic classics. Satchel Paige’s Leaf rookie card is one of the scarcest and most significant of all postwar baseball cards. Chicago's Leaf Gum Company produced the first multicolor baseball cards of the post-World War II era in 1948-1949. Forty-nine cards in the set are considered "standard" and the additional "short-print" series of 49 cards in the set are so rare that "Rare Leafs" has long been a formal card-collecting hobby term. Leafs are without question one of the toughest postwar sets to complete because of all the rare cards. Paige is not only the key to this rare series but he is also the key to the 1948-1949 Leaf set. The Leaf card is also Paige’s most valuable. This is an outstanding mid-grade example! The offered example exhibits brilliant colors, excellent registration, light corner wear (a bit weaker bottom left), and centering towards the bottom left. The reverse is clean and free of staining and excess print. This card presents a rare opportunity to acquire an extremely attractive example of one of the most classic of all postwar baseball cards.