Penetang’s Bert Corbeau is more famous than just winning a Stanley Cup
The rarest and most valuable Bert Corbeau hockey card is the 1923-24 William Paterson V145-1 #25 card. Widely considered the “holy grail of hockey cards”, often compared to baseball’s famous T206 Honus Wagner.
The 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card is widely considered the “Mona Lisa” of the sports collectibles world.
Produced by the American Tobacco Company, it is so legendary because only 50 to 60 copies are known to exist, with most surviving examples being in poor condition.
Production Halt: Honus Wagner legendary shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, had his card pulled from production almost immediately after it began.
The Tobacco Debate: the most famous theory is that Wagner did not want his image used to market cigarettes to young children. Other historians believed he ordered the halt simply because he wanted better compensation for the use of his card.
Bert Corbeau’s card has only about 10 to 15 copies with market evaluations fetching massive premiums at auction.
The Skate Contest: in 1923 Canadian candy company William Paterson Ltd. Included a free NHL player card inside their “Hockey Bar” wrappers. The Catch: the company promised a free pair of hockey skates to any child who collected the complete 40 card set and mailed them in.
The “Short Print” fix: to prevent paying out an overwhelming number of prizes, the manufacturer artificially short-printed card #25 featuring Toronto St Patrick’s defenceman Bert Corbeau. This left thousands of frustrated kids permanently stuck at 39 cards.
The “Cancelled” copies: most of the surviving Corbeau cards found today are “canceled” varieties. When kids actually managed to find the card and redeem their prize, the company would stamp or hole-punch the card to prevent it from being used again before returning it. Uncanceled, clean copies are virtually non-existent.
- Waxy Gregoire…Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame