1921 W521 Strip Card Set

Keys For Collectors

• Another anonymous strip card issue, with color drawings on the front and blank backs. Cards created by the Decalco Litho Company. (source)
• The set features 20 color cards with blank banks and a number on the front of the card
• The set is identical to the W519 Strip Card W519-1-1 issue with the same checklist, except the images are reversed. (more on this below) 
• It features a Babe Ruth card, along with XX other HOFers, including Rube Marquard, George Sisler, Frank Baker, Frank Frisch, and Black Sox player Ray Schalk.
• The W521 cards are tough to find, PSA has graded only 39 total cards. 
• The Babe Ruth card in the set is by far the most valuable. Given its scarcity (PSA has graded two copies), sales are quite rare, although some really rough copies have sold for under $2000 over the past few years. I’d expect any higher-grade copies to earn a high return at auction. 

W519 vs W521 – How To Tell The Difference?

The W521 set is a complete replica of the W519 set, with one significant difference.  

The images on the W521 cards are flipped in comparison to the W519 set.  

Here’s a comparison of the W519 and W521 Ruth. Notice how the W521 image is printed with the image of Ruth flipped horizontally?

Here’s a look at the George Sisler from the W519 and W521 sets and we can observe the same mirror image phenomenon versus the W519 card.

Thus, if you can’t tell the difference, the easy tell is to compare the card versus a known W519 issue, or look for hints on the uniform–for example, the backward ‘St Louis’ on Sisler’s jersey.

Even the grading companies have confused these cards in the past. Here’s a Sisler card that PSA graded as a W521 but which is clearly a W519-1-1 issue.

W521 Cards for Sale on eBay