Posted By:
WilliamHere is my take on the #68 card.
In it's day it was a very rare card. But like most early Fleer products (1959 Williams, 1961 Basketball, 1961 - 1963 Football), I believe the vast majority of the unopened product of these issues were opened well after the original issue date.
I know in the early days of big card shows, I had a friend who setup and he bought some 1961 Basketball boxes and unopened Fleer product and singles that dealers had personally opened around the they were selling the singles existed.
I know a guy who bought 2 1959 unopened cases in the 1980's and sold the final unopened boxes in the late 1990's.
Disregarding centering, it is easier to find EXMT to NRMT 1959 Fleer than VG or so.
As a dealer, I have bought & sold two #68 this year and (a guess) around 15 over the past 15 years or so. Only one was vgish or less, all others had near mint corners.
I think the majority of #68 cards were opened from product and introduced into the hobby in the late 1970's and 1980's and beyond. During the 1960's & early to mid-1970's, before alot of unopened product surfaced, the quantity of #68 in the hobby was much less, thus creating the legend of how rare #68 is.
As a final note, I am not saying #68 is an easy card to find, but it is not the super rare card as people thought 35+ years ago.