Lections set on eBay
 

Pretty cool auction ended on eBay a little while ago today - a raw set of 10 Lections cards. They were mostly in pretty rough shape as is usually the case with these, but I can't imagine there have been many other complete sets pop up (other than maybe the original find).

Anyone here get the lot? I bid but was well short of the final tally, as I expected. It was neat nonetheless to see something like this pop up on eBay!

Lections on eBay

I was the under-bidder. I would have kept it intact if I had won and perhaps gone for some of the color variations down the road. I thought that this was an incredible lot and still think the winner got a deal, despite all the hole-punches and other condition flaws. The description of the lot was also very interesting, as I hadn't heard of this possibility of where the set had come from and been distributed prior to this auction listing. Here's the description:

This is an extremely rare vintage original Lections series complete set of ten baseball cards dating to 1923. Little is known of these extraordinary cards and amazingly no one even knew that the Lections series existed until a group of just 28 surfaced in Albany, New York in 1997. Many collectors think the cards accompanied candy or gum as a premium. However, according to one collector, he acquired a set from a gentleman who remembered getting the cards at a state or county fair from local Upstate politicians running for office. Adults attending the fair/rally were given Election cards showing the candidate and the children were given a "Lection" card depicting a famous baseball player of the day. Since the cards were only handed out over the duration of a local fair (just a few days), their existence is very scarce and as such very rare.

All from a single Upstate New York estate, this complete set includes the following:

~"Babe" Ruth, New York Yankees
~Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals
~Howard Ehmke, Boston Red Sox
~Frankie Frisch, New York Giants
~Charles Jameson, Cleveland Indians
~Charles Schmidt, Pittsburgh Pirates
~"Bob" Meusel, New York Yankees
~Emil Meusel, New York Giants
~"Bob" Shawkey, New York Yankees
~Frank Chance, Chicago White Sox
~We also include three Election cards from local Albany area political races from the same era as the "Lections" cards.

Condition: Please examine the images for the best indication of condition. There is toning, creases, wrinkles, and punch holes to each card. The Rogers Hornsby card is taped in a few places. The Shawkey card has blue and red crayon coloring. We are not experts in grading baseball trading cards. Please feel free to contact us with any specific questions regarding these cards. We will do our best to accurately answer your questions.

Card Dimensions:The Lections cards are 4 x 2 1/2". There are variations in size from card to card due to use, tears, losses, and wear. The Election cards are 2 1/4" across.

This truly uncommon complete set of cards will make an exceptional addition to your collection.
Age: Circa 1923
Region of Origin: America
Price Comparison: $1500+ at antiques gallery

9CA M23031K

94090

Too bad, Derek - that would've been a great group, and absolutely hope the winner keeps it together!

I had heard the story about the cards being election giveaways once before as well - I wish we could get more background on why all the hole punches on most copies of these though!

I'm confused by the bidding, the top bid and the next bid, shouldn't the under-bidder be a smaller increment below the top bidder, like in pix # 2 of a different auction.

So Derek if you were the under-bidder what was your bid? the $2178.00?

Shoot....nevermind now I see the 2nd highest bid, is actually listed in the 3 hole at 3877.77, weird, never seen it like that before.

The bids appeared in that same order for me as well - not sure why they weren't biggest to smallest....