1910s-20s S-UNC Transfers Set and Checklist

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

It’s In The Details’

Title	S-UNC Transfers
Year	1910s-20s
Size	1″ x 1 1/2″ (approximately)
Images	Color
Type	Stamps
Number in Set	20 (?)

1910s-20s S-UNC Transfers Overview

1910s Unclassified Stamps Transfers This unclassified transfer set is largely unknown by collectors. It was certainly unknown to Jefferson Burdick, who did not categorize it in his American Card Catalog.

These transfers are full color and feature portraits of players. They are routinely referred to as both transfers and stamps, though ‘transfers’ is certainly more appropriate.

The transfers are pretty rare. To date, I have not even seen a fully confirmed checklist. The checklist I have assembled here is the most complete one I know of.

I initially had seen only a few of these transfers featuring baseball players (Walter Johnson and Cy Williams) until more started to surface on eBay. They feature a solid color background and the player’s name at the top. The name is repeated at the bottom but written backwards.

The backwards writing, of course, was done for transfer issues so that the text would display correctly when used. But seeing the name printed both regularly and backwards on the same issue is a bit odd.

The date is also a mystery. Known players appearing in it were active in the 1910s and 1920s so it is likely from that era. It should also be noted that a similar boxing issue featuring the Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney Long Count fight of 1927 is known as well. The Dempsey and Tunney transfers are significantly easier to find than the baseball edition.

1910s-20s S-UNC Transfers Checklist

I have listed the transfers from this issue that I have seen. However, it is likely that more exist. A total of 20 transfers were printed in the Dempsey/Tunney set and this one could feature the same amount.