[Rob D.]

Sometimes you're pleasantly surprised with an eBay purchase.

Last week I posted the first photo below, which was from the seller's listing. For whatever reason, I assumed the diameter of the pinback would be 1 1/4 inch or so (the seller didn't mention the size). I didn't even bother to ask for a scan of the reverse. The pin, even though it's Cleveland related, didn't wow me, so I wasn't all that agggressive with my bid and didn't care much about the details.

The pin arrived today, and surprise No. 1 was the size, just more than 2 inches in diameter. So that was nice. But then I flipped it over and was thrilled to see that the reverse features a photo of Louis Sockalexis! OK, so the photo actually is more likely of some Cleveland city councilman. But it still adds something -- not necessarily value, but maybe a little character -- to the pin.