Abraham Lincoln on Topps Baseball Cards

Baseball cards aren't just for kids anymore, nor are the subjects related only to baseball. Topps, Upper Deck, and many other sport card manufacturers have created presidential cards. Here are some cards that honor Abraham Lincoln from Topps.

Look 'N' See (1952)
Scoop (1954)
US Presidents (1956)
Civil War News (1962)
Who Am I? (1967)
US Presidents (1972)
American Pie (2002) - Mt. Rushmore
American Treasures (2003)
Presidential Pastime (2004)
World Champions (2006)
Campaign (2008)
First Couples (2008)
Heritage (2009)
Heritage: Hero's Journey (2009)
Heritage: Hero's Journey Stamp Collection (2009)
Abe Lincoln Variants (2010)
Magic Historical Coins (2012)

Topps Heritage (2009)

A variety of the Topps Heritage series cards relate to Lincoln--most notably AP16, Abraham Lincoln.

Topps American Heritage Abraham Lincoln

These cards in the Heritage series relate to Abraham Lincoln:

	Card	Category
AP16	Abraham Lincoln	American Presidents
109	The Lincoln-Douglas Debates	Great American Events
110	The Emancipation Proclamation	Great American Events
111	The Treaty at Appomatox Court House	Great American Events
112	Seward's Folly	Great American Events
116	Mount Rushmore is Completed	Great American Events
71	Henry Clay	Jurists & Statesmen
72	John C. Calhoun	Jurists & Statesmen
77	Charles Sumner	Jurists & Statesmen
18	John Charles Fremont	Explorers
62	Gutzon Borglum	Artists
68	Mathew Brady	Artists
2	Harriet Beecher Stowe	Writers
7	Walt Whitman	Writers
53	Harriet Tubman	Civil Rights Leaders
54	Frederick Douglass	Civil Rights Leaders
25	Winfield Scott	Military Leaders
26	William Tecumseh Sherman	Military Leaders
30	George Meade	Military Leaders

Topps Heritage: American Heroes/Hero's Journey (2009)

The Topps Heritage American Heroes collection includes several short print cards and the big prize: an 1/1 Abraham Lincoln cut signature (AHSR-AL), featuring a full signature rather than the more common "A. Lincoln." It includes a relic of Lincoln's law office floor.

The card has been seen with a short signature variation with "law office wood" rather than the law office floor indicated in the other card:

The card has been listed on eBay many times. The price slowly declines but no buyer has yet emerged. The seller is emoncards and the Buy It Now price was $8,999 in August, 2011.

There is also an auto cut card with Abraham Lincoln's shorter autograph, AHS-AL. It is 1/1. Like the variation above, the signature appears to be only his last name (not the more common "A. Lincoln").

The AHS-AL Abraham Lincoln signature card was listed on eBay on August 10, 2011, buy eBay seller lanfeii. It is listed at $4,999 or best offer. As of September 1, 2011, the seller has received 5 offers.

There are several other relic cards in the series:

AJR-AL1 is a relic card that contains wood from Lincoln's home. It was inserted at a ratio of 1:12,100 packs. The card design is the standard Hero's Journey card, but embedded in the card is a small chip of wood from Abraham Lincoln's home.

The one above (number 2 of 10) was sold on September 8, 2009 by seller card-junky in a 3-day eBay auction for $1034.99. The auction ran over Labor Day weekend and attracted 6 bidders with a total of 29 bids. Number 2 of 10 was listed for a Buy It Now price of $720 or best offer by eBay seller diver1823 on August 13, 2011.

Number 3 of 10 was sold by cav50 on December 5, 2008. This card doesn't appear that often, so the selling price of $210.27 was surprising. Perhaps this is because it was harder to find with this misspelling in the title: "Heroe's Journey." The listing got 55 page views and drew 6 bidders for a total of 8 bids.
Number 6 of 10 was sold by mishahgahs on December 15, 2009. It was listed as an auction with a start price of $188.88 and got a single bid.

AJR-AL2 is a relic card that contains wood from Lincoln's law office. It was inserted at a ratio of 1:12,100 packs.

Number 12 of 20 sold on September 8, 2009, by eBay seller ddavisaz for $796. (No other cards from this /20 relic issue were on eBay while this was listed.)
Number 7 of 20 sold on September 13, 2009, by eBay seller mgresham8aip for $306.11 (This auction ran just days after the Number 12 sold, making it seem like the /20 card wasn't as rare as it is. To make matters worse, the Number 4/20 card was listed while this auction was still running.)
Number 4 of 20 sold on September 18, 2009, by eBay seller gregdimo for $292.
Number 18 of 20 sold on September 20, 2009, by eBay seller thechoice77 for $250.
Number 6 of 20 sold on January 17, 2010, by eBay seller hockey3026. A total of 39 bids brought the price to $237.

Number 7 of 20 sold on was listed on August 13, 2011, by eBay seller diver1823. The Buy It Now price was $540 or best offer.

AJR-AL3 is a relic card that contains a swatch of a flag used on Abraham Lincoln's funeral train.

AJR-AL4 is a relic card that contains a piece of an election envelope of the kind popular during the 1860 and 1864 elections.

Number of 1 of 30 (yes, the first of 30) sold on September 20, 2009, by eBay seller jpar9271 for $227.50.
Number 21 of 30 sold on September 30, 2009, by eBay seller dgeman for $104.49. The seller said it came with a blemish out of the package (see directly under the star).

Number 20 of 30 shown below apparently had the same blemish problem. It was listed by eBay seller diver1823 for $330, on August 13, 2011.

Number 12 of 30 sold on November 1, 2009, by eBay seller dcardsr1 for $109.50.
Number 4 is held by basketballnut40 and has been listed multiple times. It's hard to say why it's not selling. It could be a relatively low seller score of 97.7%, or it could be that the market price has dropped below the ask price.
- On November 30, 2009, it was listed as an auction with a start price of $79.99, but ended without a bid.
- On December 8, it was started at $84.99, but ended without a bid.
- Trying the climbing start-price strategy, it was listed on December 15, with a start price of $89.99. A note in the item listing said, "I have a desire to keep it forever if no other collector of history wants it. So 7 days out of forever is all you have to make a bid!!" But it ended again without a bid.
- All right, seven more days out of forever. On December 23, the start price dropped to $84.99 with the same note. No success.
- On December 30, the seller listed it as a Buy It Now (instead of an auction), with a price of $95.99. Yep, same "7 days out of forever" note.
Number 26 of 30 was listed on November 12, 2009, by a seller with 100% positive feedback: bigvalboskee. Big Val is selling it for the Buy It Now price of $119.95.

AJR-AL5 is a relic card that contains a swatch of some curtains from Lincoln's parlor.

Abraham Lincoln Base Cards

The Topps Heritage Hero's Journey base set includes 15 Lincoln cards. There are five designs used for the front of the cards, repeated in a sequence three times. The back of the cards WRONGLY state that Abraham Lincoln died on April 16, 1865. In fact, Lincoln was shot on April 14 and died the morning of April 15, 1854.

	Back Text	Card Number
	Greatness Sprouts from Humble Home Born to two uneducated farmers in rural Kentucky, Lincoln grew up in a one-room log cabin on Nolin Creek. There he learned the ways of the frontiersmen, trying his hand at hunting before deciding that killing animals did not jibe with his moral values. Abraham did plowing and planting work for neighbors by age 12, attending school only briefly.	HJ-1
	Lincoln Learns Rhetorical Ropes Long before he would deliver his stirring speeches as President, Lincoln began honing his oratory skills as a child. Though his father, Thomas, was neither educated nor literate, he was a natural raconteur who regaled the family with tales. Abe would memorize and repeat the stories to friends the next day, mimicking his father's dramatic delivery.	HJ-2
	Lincoln Casts Long Shadow As a child, Lincoln was unusually tall. By age 21, he would reach 6-foot-4, with conspicuously long arms and legs, as well as big hands and feet. Abraham would become the tallest president in U.S. history, with a half-inch advantage on Lyndon b. Johnson and a 1 1/2-inch edge on Thomas Jefferson. Only 19 of the first 43 chief executives stood even 6 feet tall.	HJ-3
	Lincoln Starts a Family On November 4, 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd, a woman who shared his passion for poetry and politics. The couple moved to downtown Springfield, Illinois. After their first two sons were born, Abraham began calling Mary "Mother," and she would call her husband "Mr. Lincoln." Only one of their four sons, Robert Todd Lincoln, would survive into adulthood.	HJ-4
	Lincoln Excels at "Other" Profession Before he would become one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, Lincoln pursued a career in law. Though self-taught, he gained admission to the bar in 1837. Abraham matured into a more than capable counselor. He earned a reputation as a superior courtroom tactician by using quaint, straightforward arguments with a touch of humor to sway juries.	HJ-5
	Rising Star Emerges in Debates Lincoln solidified his greatness as a public speaker while running for an Illinois seat in the U.S. Senate in 1858. In a series of seven debates with Democratic candidate Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham eloquently outlined his core principles. Lincoln lost the election but gained a foothold in national politics, setting the stage for his Presidency.	HJ-6
	Lincoln Makes Presidential Bid Picked as the Republican Party candidate for the 1860 Presidential election, Lincoln did not campaign on the road. Instead, party offices showered the northern U.S. states with leaflets and posters emphasizing Abraham's rags-to-riches life story. Thousands of newspaper editorials were written on his behalf, positioning him for a narrow victory.	HJ-7
	Lincoln Becomes First Republican President On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States, capturing 180 of 303 electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular ballots. He became the first Republican to hold office. There have since been 16 more commanders-in-chief representing the Grand Old Party, including four straight beginning with Ulysses S. Grant in 1869.	HJ-8
	Lincoln Takes Charge Amidst Unrest Lincoln inherited a divided nation when he took office on March 4, 1861. Seven southern states already had seceded from the Unino, declaring themselves the Confederate States of America. Abraham delivered a hopeful message during his Inaugural Address--including hints at compromise--but he refused to recognize the Confederacy. War was imminent.	HJ-9
	Lincoln Reacts to Shots at Sumter With the Civil War at hand, Lincoln sprung into action in April 1861. Responding to the shots fired on Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, Lincoln implored the governors of every state to contribute troops to recapture forst and protect the capital. The call was met with even more resistance as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas all seceded.	HJ-10
	Lincoln Frees Slaves Lincoln took his long-held opposition to slavery to an official level during his presidency. He issued two executive orders--the first on September 22, 1862, and the second on January 1, 1863--declaring freedom for all slaves in Confederate states not under Union control. Known as the Emancipation Proclamation, his bold action affected thousands.	HJ-11
	A Determined War Leader As the Civil War raged in the early 1860s, Lincoln took a hands-on approach to the Union's campaign. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office, reading dispatches from his generals. The drastic measures he took to ensure success included suspending the Write of Habeas Corpus and relieving several key military leaders of their duties.	HJ-12
	Lincoln Delivers Signature Speech On November 19, 1863--4 1/2 months after a crucial Union victory at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania--Lincoln visited that site to make his most memorable speech. The Gettysburg Address, which begins with the oft-quoted words "Four scroe and seven years ago," saluted the fallen soldiers and outlined his vision of a nation growing stronger through their sacrifice.	HJ-13
	A Fateful Night at Ford's Theatre On April 14, 1865, Lincoln attended a showing of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. He was shot in the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth as he sat in his state box in the balcony. Abraham was pronounced dead the next morning at the nearby Petersen House, making him the first president in U.S. history to be assassinated.	HJ-14
	Lincoln Leaves Lasting Legacy The state nickname of Illinois is "Land of Lincoln," but the 16th President's legacy endures throughout the U.S. Many cities are named in his honor (including the capital of Nebraska) and his birthday gave rise to a national holiday. A memorial of Abe's likeness overlooks the National Mall, and his face graces the front of the $5 bill and the penny.	HJ-15

Topps Heritage: Hero's Journey Stamp Collection (2009)

Twenty cards appear in the Topps Heritage Hero's Journey Stamp Collection series. Each has a Lincoln-related U.S. postage stamp in a window in the card that makes both the front and the back of the stamp visible. Each stamp has a different cancelation. The stamp quality varies, ranging from those that are rather sloppy to those that are well-centered with nice cancelations.

The Hero's Journey Stamp cards were inserted into packs at a ratio of 1:468.

	Stamp	Card Number
	25 cent World Stamp Expo	HJS-AL1
	3 cent Lincoln portrait issued 1934; also available as a coil stamp (Scott 635a)	HJS-AL2
	4 cent Lincoln portrait (also available as a coil stamp)	HJS-AL3
		HJS-AL4
	29 cent Mount Rushmore under flag (Mt. Rushmore)	HJS-AL5
	26 cent air mail Mount Rushmore (Mt. Rushmore)	HJS-AL6
		HJS-AL7
	3 cent Mount Rushmore (Mt. Rushmore)	HJS-AL8
	16 cent Lincoln bust from the 1938 Presidential series (Scott 821)	HJS-AL9
	4 cent Lincoln-Douglas debates	HJS-AL10
	4 cent credo	HJS-AL11
		HJS-AL12
	4 cent Lincoln portrait	HJS-AL13
		HJS-AL14
	1 cent Lincoln portrait	HJS-AL15
	20 cent National Archives (Abraham Lincoln and George Washington)	HJS-AL16
		HJS-AL17
	20 cent Nation of Readers (Lincoln and his son Tad)	HJS-AL18
	3 cent Lincoln bust	HJS-AL19
	4 cent Lincoln Memorial statue	HJS-AL20