365 Days of Roberto Clemente

[71buc]

Great thread! I love that autographed photo. 365 unique items in a single thread is quite a feat. In an attempt to avoid the stealing of your thunder, and stepping on your thread, I will limit my periodic additions to items I think are at least a bit scare. I had this Willie Stargell ceramic bank and had heard that there was a Clemente version. However, after years of searching, I never found concrete evidence of its existence. I began to think it was the stuff of a hobby urban legend. That is until Howard confirmed it was a reality by sharing a photo of his. Ironically I found one shortly thereafter. Isn't that the way it always seems to work? The Clemente bank is on the right. I have only seen three of these Clemente banks. This tally includes Howards and my own. They are made of ceramic and stand about 12" tall. There is not a plug that can be used to remove the coins. The only way to retrieve the money was to literally break the bank which likely explains their scarcity.

PS: Howard I picked up one of those buttons in an auction out of Minnesota a couple of months ago so you can add to your total known to exist. Mine is of the facsimile signed version. I believe you said there is an unsigned one as well?