We moved from Brooklyn to Long Island in December of 1971. I was nine-years-old and finally had my own room. It was a life changing event.
Sports were my thing then, my only thing really, and I hung up my Sports Illustrated posters of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ken Harrelson, Carl Yastrzemski and two Joe Namaths. I had some 8 X 10’s to add to the gallery – a Willis Reed promotional picture from Voit, another of Reed and Walt Frazier from a game I had that they endorsed and a Pete Maravich Keds’ promo. (God I wish I still had those!)
There was a nice big, empty pace on the wall to the right of my dresser, a void I could see from my bed, itching to be filled. I had an idea. I found a large wooden board in the garage, painted it white and reached for my 1971 Topps coins. I love those coins; they’re beautiful, bright, alive, better, I think, than the funereal black shrouded base set of that year.
I had 100 coins or so, in nice condition, as you can see. I wasn’t serious about collecting yet and I wasn’t even 10, so this seemed like a good project. I glued them to the board and nailed the board into the wall. It was cool to look at.
A few years later, I was a serious collector, going to card shows and caring about my cards. I freaked out at what I’d done to my precious metal coins and pried them off.
I tried frantically to scratch the glue off and submitted myself to hours of ancient torture, scraping wood slivers, which would get under my nails and cause me to bleed and cry in pain. I deserved it for what I did to these beauties.
I’ve been thinking of getting the last third of the set but they’re a bit pricier than I thought they’d be. Still, finding 44 in VG condition should, in time, be doable. Maybe there’s another masochist out there in the collecting world who has extra coins with excellent heads and ruined tails. I’m not so condition sensitive, as Rich Reese can attest.
SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee 
I have this set, most of it from my childhood. I particularly like the variety of color on the rims.
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I have around half of the set but balk at the expense of completing it. I have a similar cringe inducing story I will post at some point. The board was assume! The 10 year old you was a budding curator. A perfect trait for the future Mayor of Cooperstown.
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