1915 W-UNC Black and White Strip Card Set and Checklist

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	W-UNC Black and White Strip
Year	1915
Size	Varies by Cut
Images	Black and White
Type	Strip
Number in Set	27

1915 W-UNC Black and White Strip Overview

Christy Mathewson 1915 W-UNC The 1915 W-UNC strip card set is an unclassified issue not recorded in the American Card Catalog. Cards have black and white player images on the fronts and blank backs. The player’s name and team is at the bottom and printed within a white border that encompasses the entire card.

These cards were not well-known to the hobby until only recently when a discovery of many of them was found in 2009 or 2010. The cards were subsequently auctioned shortly afterward. They have no marking on them to identify them and are thus listed as an unclassified strip card issue (W-UNC).

The labeling on the bottom varies. Some cards give the player’s position while others don’t. Some also have the league omitted. 24 of the known cards feature individual players while two are team cards and one is an action shot titled, ‘Ready for the Wallop.’ The scene shows a batter and catcher and, per PSA, depicts Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Roger Bresnahan.

One of the key individual cards featured is legendary athlete Jim Thorpe, who played both football and baseball.

Approximately two dozen cards are known but a complete checklist is not confirmed.

Set Images

Marquard Ruth Here are pictures of the known cards in the set. Many of the pictures will be familiar to collectors since they were used in other sets. Joe Jackson’s card, for example, uses the same iconic picture from his M101-4 and M101-5 cards.

Another interesting image in the set of Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Marquard.

Marquard’s image was not the one found on his M101 cards. However, the picture is the same one that is believed to have been used for a Youth Companion stamp. The stamp is important as it features an unknown player that is often called Babe Ruth. However, as I wrote in this article, the stamp actually features Marquard from the image on this card.

Both the image from Marquard’s card and the aforementioned stamp are shown here.