Penny Cards

No, I’m not talking about cards worth a penny.  I’m talking about cards containing pennies.  A few years back I saw these cards on eBay but never gave much thought to them.  Recently I’ve been more interested in these cards which were made by Auth/Ink and always contain a penny.  They always feature a famous athlete, entertainer, or historical figure and then have a penny inserted into the card from a year that was significant to that person.  A couple of weeks ago I found a Christy Mathewson Auth/Ink card at a show for only $15.00.  Inside the card is a wheat penny from 1936 because that was the year Mathewson was inducted into the Baseball HOF.  Since I collect cards of older players such as Mathewson, I knew I had to have it.  Mathewson went to Bucknell University which I drive by everyday and is even buried the Lewisburg Cemetery which is right next to the school (that would make for a great place to do an on-location box break near Halloween).

Nobody is quite sure how these cards were distributed.  I doubt they were inserted into packs.  I think Auth/Ink sold them exclusively in eBay just like Razor did with some of their Metal cards.  These cards range in price from $9.99  all the way up to $50.00 in some cases.  This Lou Gehrig card looks really cool.  Usually you’d find Gehrig in a Yankees uniform, but they decided to use a picture of him in his Columbia jersey.  Another one of my favorites is of Mike “King” Kelly.