Lot # 2479: 1948 Leaf Football Near-Complete Set (97/98)

Near-complete set of the classic 1948 Leaf football gum-card issue, highlighted by fourteen Hall of Famers. Missing just #91 Leon Hart for completion. The first forty-nine cards (#1-49) represent the complete first series, and the scarcer second series of forty-nine cards is represented by the high-number cards (#50 thru 98). These are the first color football cards of the post-World War II era. Includes one duplicate (#57). Condition is 8% Ex-Mt, 61% Vg-Ex to Ex, 17% Gd to Vg, and 14% lesser (including six that measure small). Eight cards have been graded and encapsulated by PSA. Keys: #1 Luckman RC (Vg-Ex+), 3 Turner RC (Vg-Ex), 4 Walker RC (Ex), 6 Layne (slightly miscut centering on reverse, otherwise Ex), 13 Lujack RC (Vg-Ex), 15 Justice RC (Vg-Ex+), 16 Pihos RC (Ex), 19 McAfee RC (Vg+), 22 Van Buren RC (Vg-Ex+), 26 Waterfield RC (Vg-Ex), 29 Trippi RC (Vg-Ex), 34 Baugh RC (EX 5), 36 Dudley RC (Ex+), 37 Connor RC (Ex), 50 (EX 5), 51 (EX-MT 6), 52 Nomellini RC (Vg), 53 Conerly RC (Vg+), 54 Bednarik RC (PSA Authentic, measures small, otherwise presenting as Vg-Ex), 63 (VG-EX 4), 65 (EX+ 5.5), 73 Jensen RC (Vg), 80 (EX 5), 95 (EX-MT 6), and 98 DiMarco RC (Vg-Ex). Just as the cards in the 1948-1949 Leaf baseball series are much rarer than Bowman and Topps cards from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Leaf football cards are also rarer than most other postwar football issues. They are also very distinctive, with an unusual and very colorful design that has always made these a favorite with collectors. This is a very attractive and mostly mid-grade complete set of 1948 Leaf Football, one of card collecting's most popular classics. Total: 98 cards (near set of 97 plus one duplicate).