Working theory: Murad T51 ’number-on-front’ variations

[slightlyrounded]

After a looong time looking, thrilled to finally have the Williams College ‘number-on-front’ (NOF) variation in my hands, in any condition. While the base T51 set has been relatively easy to put together, the 25 NOF cards have been much tougher for me. The Wiliams NOF variation is widely considered to be the first first basketball card produced and relevant because the Williams Ephs were arguably the top team in the country at the time of issuance (according to the Premo-Porretta_Power_Poll). This variation has a current PSA pop of only 2 but likely is only a tiny fraction of the overall ungraded population.



Even though there seems to be a general consensus that the NOF variations pre-dated the non-numbered issues, I haven’t see much mention as to why - I think the answer lies in the T6 redemption coupons that were included with each Murad cigarette pack:



My theory is the 'premium’ coupons (as well as the backs of the T6 cabinet cards themselves) were mistakenly printed with alphabetical numbering that differed from the actual T51 card-fronts themselves. So, the Williams T51 card reads #14 but the coupon has Williams College at #24. Because the coupon specifically requests the redeemer to “Write plainly your name and address, and order picture desired by number….” its safe to say that some collectors would have used the numbers on the coupon while others would have made their college request based off the T51 numbering. The resulting headache/confusion let to the small numbering being knocked of the printing plates mid run and the subsequent 1-25 series (First Edition) were printed as the more common “no-number” variety.

So that’s my case - Would love to hear other theories. Finally - realizing this is a baseball card forum, here’s some relevant red meat in a few variations: