1932 R114 U. S. Caramel Presidents Complete Set of 31 including the "Holy Grail' of non-sport collecting the extraordinarily scare William McKinley card. Considered by most collectors to be complete at 30 cards the U.S. Caramel "Presidents" set actually had a 31st card issued whose existence was not confirmed until the early 1990's. This legendary rarity featuring President William McKinley was intentionally distributed by the U. S. Caramel company in extremely short supply. This was done to keep the depression era youngsters to keep buying their product in hope of completing their 31 card set and redeeming their one pound box of assorted chocolates advertised on the back of each card. By doing this they saved giving away free candy and at the same time kept the kids buying their product. It must have been very successful as they did the same thing with the #16 Charles (Lindy) Lindstrom card in their 1932 R328 U. S. Caramel baseball issue. (Other companies have done the same most notably 1933 Goudey with their #106 Nap Lajoie card and the Leaf Baseball Boxing and Football issues with their skip numbering) The few lucky youngsters who actually obtained the card back in 1932 and sent for their candy were no doubt surprised when the cards were returned heavily defaced with cancellation stamps or small punch holes. (to prevent them from being used again)

With less than 10 examples known in any condition the 1932 U. S. Caramel McKinley is one of the rarest major issue cards in collecting. This makes the prized 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card with close to 60 examples in the hobby seem plentiful. To stress even further the rarity of what is being offered consider the VG-EX PSA 4 McKinley in the set is one of only two cards rated better than Poor or Authentic by either PSA or SGC and the highest one PSA has ever handled above a Poor 1. How this beauty survived the depression when a box of chocolates probably seemed like a million dollars to children is a mystery that will probably never be solved.

The offered VG-EX PSA 4 McKinley is in honest medium grade condition. Front color and printing are very well done for the issue with perfect image registration and excellent separation of color. All four corners rate a solid VG-EX. Both front and back present very clean with minimal toning. Centering about 60/40 or a little more both ways. The balance of the 31 card set are in matching VG-EX overall condition with most cards falling within the VG to EX+/EM range.

The only other 1932 U. S. Caramel William McKinley card in comparable condition a recently discovered EX SGC 60 recently sold at the end of 2014 for $96000. After this treasure has been sold how long will it be before another one as nice will see the light of day?