The Smithsonian Institution is world renowned for its numerous museums and research centers dedicated to preserving artifacts and educational exhibits about history, science, art and culture. One lesser known aspect of the Smithsonian is their extensive collection of baseball cards, which numbers in the tens of thousands and contains some of the rarest and most valuable cards in existence.
The Smithsonian’s baseball card collection began in the 1990s when Eric Grill, who was then the director of the National Museum of American History, started acquiring vintage cards to put on display. Grill recognized that baseball cards were an important part of American popular culture history, capturing the players, teams and cultural trends from different eras. By displaying cards in exhibit cases, the Smithsonian hoped to tell the broader story of baseball’s impact and evolution through the decades.
One of the earliest and rarest cards in the Smithsonian collection is an 1868 “N172 Old Judge” tobacco card, featuring a portrait of a baseball player from that era. Only about 50 of these pioneering cardboard collectibles are known to still exist today. The Old Judge is widely considered the first true baseball card and helped launch the entire sports card industry. Other exceedingly rare pre-1900 cards in the collection include an 1887/1888 Goodwin Champions set and an almost complete run of the famous 1909-1911 T206 tobacco issue.
Jumping ahead several decades, the museum obtained an exceptionally well-preserved 1948 Bowman set nearly intact. This colorful, portrait-style design is hugely popular with vintage collectors. Highlights among their post-war holdings are a pristine 1952 Topps set (the first modern issues), iconic rookie cards for legends like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays from the 1950s Topps runs, and a collection of the pioneering 1969 Topps cards that introduced modern size and color photos on a large scale.
In the 1960s and 70s, the Smithsonian received numerous donations that really bulked up their stock, such as a complete run of 1968 Topps and the popularly designed 1968 and 1969 Fleer sets featuring “action shots.” A 1975 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card in mint condition is a real gem. Of course, no collection would be complete without gems and oddities like the famous 1933 Goudey “Me and the Boys” cards picturing ballplayers in everyday situations.
Beyond just amassing cards over the decades, the Smithsonian has sought to secure historically significant items through purchases at auction. In 2005, they spent $25,300 to obtain the only known 1911 T206 Honus Wagner card still in excellent condition. Widely hailed as the most coveted card of all time, its acquisition was a real coup. Other notable expensive acquisitions include mint condition 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan and 1992 Bowman Chipper Jones rookies, both foreshadowing those players’ future stardom.
While the majority of the Smithsonian’s cards remain in secured storage as part of their permanent collection, a rotating display of approximately 500 cards can be seen on the third floor of the National Museum of American History. Other one-off exhibits have showcased topics like the invention of the modern baseball card in the late 1880s or baseball memorabilia of the negro leagues. Periodically, the institution loans out prized cards to traveling exhibitions.
In keeping with its educational mission, the Smithsonian has also published books showcasing highlights from the collection and documenting the history and cultural impact of baseball cards. Maintaining such a wide-ranging assortment allows researchers to study changing card designs, rising player values, and nostalgia over the decades. It ensures that future generations can appreciate baseball card art as both collectibles and snapshots into American social history on and off the diamond. The depth and breadth of the Institution’s still-growing holdings make it one of the world’s preeminent archives of these cherished pop culture artifacts.
