Posted By:
Al C.risafulli"Millions? Yes--but how many do you think have been graded???"
Only because I have absolutely no life, I will tell you EXACTLY how many.
238,864.
At least that's how many PSA has graded. I added them up. This includes all baseball cards (including postcards, stamps, CDVs, and anything else they grade EXCEPT pins, which I factored out) issued between 1800 and 1945. It does not include multi-sport sets like N28, N29, and Sport Kings. It also doesn't count the one card PSA has listed as a 1911 Topps Manny Trillo.
If you factor out T205, T206, 1933 Goudey and 1934 Goudey, that number drops to 107,051.
How many raw T206s, T205s, T201s, E121s, 33 and 34 Goudeys, Playballs, Double Plays, Diamond Stars, Fine Pens and Wide Pens are floating around out there? How many cabinets, N28s, N172s, and Exhibits?
And lastly - and probably most importantly - how many raw 1920s strip cards?
Millions? Is that safe to say? I think it is. I'll bet there are just as many raw 1933 Goudeys out there - if not more - than there are prewar cards that have been graded by PSA and SGC combined.
-Al
EDIT: Just for s's and g's, here's the breakdown of the PSA pop report:
1800-1899: 2,182 cards
1900-1910: 9,988 cards
1911-1920: 114,709 cards (31,338 not counting T205 and 206)
1921-1930: 5,605 cards
1931-1940: 95,268 cards (46,826 not counting 33 and 34 Goudey)
1941-1945: 11,112 cards
I suppose it's possible that I added wrong, or that the pop reports are not working, but that's the number I came up with.