u/Cards4Days

I purchased these 3 N172 Old Judge’s from a guy on Facebook who purchased a collection of I believe 45+ N172’s that were salvaged from a house fire. Most were already in poor condition, but a few from the collection were very damaged from the smoke. I purchased three of them, from left to right, John Morrill, Frank Fennelly, and Paul Revere Radford.

The Morrill is by the rarest of the 3. This card is known as a team change card. Whenever a player was traded, Old Judge would change the city or alter the photo with the corresponding team that player was now on. Morrill in the photo is still seen in his Boston uniform, but on the bottom it clearly says he plays for Washington, when he was sold by the Boston Beaneaters to the Washington Nationals in 1889 midseason. I didn’t find out til later on after purchasing it that only a few are known to exist and the last one that sold publicly was in an REA auction in 2009 where it sold in an SGC 1.5 for $823. When I purchased it, the card was separated into 2. Using PH Neutral Glue, I put it back together.

The Frank Fennelly I was most attracted to at first because it’s also a team change card. Seen on Fennelly’s chest it says “Athletics”. Fennelly was a shortstop in the American Association from 1884-1890 where he spent the majority of his time in Cincinnati. Towards the end of the 1888 season, Philadelphia purchased Fennelly’s contract for $1,000 (about** **$34,759 today). Old Judge then halted any of Fennelly’s cards that had Cincinnati insignia on it, and used an older photo of Fennelly and simply wrote “Athletics” across his chest. Old Judge did not take photos of the players themselves, instead they relied on local photographers they would hire to take photos of each player at their studio in the city those teams inhabited. It would’ve take a lot of time and money to get Fennelly back at a studio in Philadelphia to take a new photo for production, so they simply just used an old photo from when he was in Cincinnati.

The third card, definitely the worst conditioned, is of Paul Revere Radford. Radford was a career journeyman who jumped throughout the National League, American Association, and even played in the one and only year of existence of the Players League in 1890, from the years 1883-1894. I am usually someone who doesn’t care about condition as long as the image is visible enough, but this one is rough. The reason I had to pick it up is because Radford was apart of the 1884 Providence Grays who won the first ever “World Series” in 1884 between the NL/AA. That same year, Old Hoss Radbourn arguably had the greatest pitching season ever for the Providence Grays. The book titled “Fifty-nine in ‘84” writes about that season for Providence, mostly writing about Radbourn’s legendary season. Paul Revere Radford is mentioned many times in the book, so for me, it felt too cool to not buy.

I purchased these 3 N172 Old Judge’s from a guy on Facebook who purchased a collection of I believe 45+ N172’s that were salvaged from a house fire. Most were already in poor condition, but a few from the collection were very damaged from the smoke. I purchased three of them, from left to right, John Morrill, Frank Fennelly, and Paul Revere Radford.

The Morrill is by the rarest of the 3. This card is known as a team change card. Whenever a player was traded, Old Judge would change the city or alter the photo with the corresponding team that player was now on. Morrill in the photo is still seen in his Boston uniform, but on the bottom it clearly says he plays for Washington, when he was sold by the Boston Beaneaters to the Washington Nationals in 1889 midseason. I didn’t find out til later on after purchasing it that only a few are known to exist and the last one that sold publicly was in an REA auction in 2009 where it sold in an SGC 1.5 for $823. When I purchased it, the card was separated into 2. Using PH Neutral Glue, I put it back together.

The Frank Fennelly I was most attracted to at first because it’s also a team change card. Seen on Fennelly’s chest it says “Athletics”. Fennelly was a shortstop in the American Association from 1884-1890 where he spent the majority of his time in Cincinnati. Towards the end of the 1888 season, Philadelphia purchased Fennelly’s contract for $1,000 (about** **$34,759 today). Old Judge then halted any of Fennelly’s cards that had Cincinnati insignia on it, and used an older photo of Fennelly and simply wrote “Athletics” across his chest. Old Judge did not take photos of the players themselves, instead they relied on local photographers they would hire to take photos of each player at their studio in the city those teams inhabited. It would’ve take a lot of time and money to get Fennelly back at a studio in Philadelphia to take a new photo for production, so they simply just used an old photo from when he was in Cincinnati.

The third card, definitely the worst conditioned, is of Paul Revere Radford. Radford was a career journeyman who jumped throughout the National League, American Association, and even played in the one and only year of existence of the Players League in 1890, from the years 1883-1894. I am usually someone who doesn’t care about condition as long as the image is visible enough, but this one is rough. The reason I had to pick it up is because Radford was apart of the 1884 Providence Grays who won the first ever “World Series” in 1884 between the NL/AA. That same year, Old Hoss Radbourn arguably had the greatest pitching season ever for the Providence Grays. The book titled “Fifty-nine in ‘84” writes about that season for Providence, mostly writing about Radbourn’s legendary season. Paul Revere Radford is mentioned many times in the book, so for me, it felt too cool to not buy.

Only recent comp I can find is the gold /50 which sold for $200. I’m asking $50 shipped for mine.

Most spots near me are duds, with this being the exception. It’s a spring water pond so the water is crystal clear on a good day. You can walk around the edge and see the Bass and other smaller fish, I’m guessing Crappies and Mosquito Fish. Was told the pond also has Catfish but have not seen any yet.