1910 C56 Imperial Tobacco #37 Newsy Lalonde SGC 40 RARE. 5 KNOWN. #1 GRADED
The C56 Imperial Tobacco #37 Newsy Lalonde rookie card is one, if not the scarcest , of all vintage hockey cards. Most price guides are aware of its existence; others seem not to be (it is listed in Beckett, Vintage Card Prices, and on the Trading Card Database, among others, but not in the SMR). This exceptionally rare specimen, graded "Very Good 40" by SGC, represents one of only five that are known to exist. It is also the highest graded of all examples. The best in the hobby. In the world of vintage hockey ephemera, nothing else has the same improbable qualities of scarcity and star power. Quite simply put, nothing else is quite like it. For over 90 years, the 1910 C56 Imperial Tobacco Series of Hockey-the first known hockey set-was thought to be complete at 36 cards. However, after the discovery of another, previously unknown card (a second Newsy Lalonde), it is now known to comprise 37 different specimens. This discovery has been discussed on numerous websites and forums and various theories have been given for its existence. The 2007 unearthing of the original lithographic stone used to print the C56 series, however, has provided confirmation that 37 cards were originally produced by Imperial Tobacco. The stone itself possesses printing elements for both the front and back of the hockey cards from the C56 series. Included are the players' names, card numbers, and common framework for the reverse side. The numbers as well as letters of the players' names are hand-drawn and appear to exactly match those of many of the cards in the C56 series, although there are minor anomalies. Perhaps indicative of multiple printings (two names are misspelled; one is corrected by an over-strike while the other is rewritten correctly). The final card in the C56 series, then, is numbered with "37" in the top left corner instead of "36, " but has the same pose of Édouard "Newsy" Lalonde. The mystery surrounding card #37 remains, however, since speculation is that it is similar to the T206 Honus Wagner in that it may have been pulled from production early with very few examples ever distributed. Fortunately, we know from the acquisition of one of the elusive #37 cards that the original owner did indeed pull the card from a cigarette pack. This known provenance would strongly discount the theory that #37 Lalonde would have been a salesman sample or was part of a store display. All known examples found to date have an original, factory cut. This item is in the category "Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop\Sports Trading Cards\Trading Card Singles".
The seller is "bmw_cards2" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada.
- Set: 1910 C56 Imperial Tobacco (Hockey)
- Certification Number: 1354729-001
- Card Number: #37
- Parallel/Variety: Extreme Scarcity
- Season: 1910
- Graded: Yes
- Player/Athlete: Édouard \
- Grade: SGC 40 (Very Good 3)
- Features: Rookie
- Manufacturer: Imperial Tobacco Canada
- Professional Grader: Sportscard (SGC)
- Sport: Ice Hockey
- Team: Renfrew Creamery Kings/Millionaires
- League: NHA
- Product: Single
- Card Attributes: Hall of Fame
- Series: C56 (Hockey)
- Card Manufacturer: Imperial Tobacco
- Era: Vintage (Pre-1970)
- Original/Reprint: Original