The key card in one of the hobby’s most rare and desirable vintage bakery issues, this is a spectacular card from the very rare D304 General Baking Company series. Issued between 1911 and 1914 by the Buffalo, NY company and featuring one of five different back varieties, the issue today known as D304 and commonly called “Brunners Bread” cards is one of the most unique issues of the era.
Unlike other baseball issues of the day, where images or poses were often shared across multiple sets, the poses and illustrations of the D304 set are unique to this issue. The D304 issue is also much more rare than the popular tobacco issues of the day, with key cards rarely becoming available for sale in the card collecting hobby. The 25 cards from this issue are a rarity, and we’re proud to offer a large assortment of cards from the set in our inaugural auction, highlighted by this Cobb.
The Cobb is an extremely difficult card to obtain in any condition. Indeed, despite being one of the top two or three subjects of prewar collecting, with his cards being extremely popular and widely-collected, only 28 graded examples of the Brunners Bread Cobb have been counted in the PSA and SGC population reports. Compare this, for example, with his “scarce” green-background T206, of which hundreds of graded examples are available. This is a rare card of one of the greatest players ever to set foot on the diamond!
