1997 Pinnacle Mint

Description

1997 Pinnacle Mint was a 30-card and 30-coin set that was Pinnacle Brands, Inc.'s first attempt to combine card collecting with numismatics. This concept was one of many innovations (some would say gimmicks) the company introduced The Hobby. But while Dufex technology, and press plates were well received, Mint was not.

Each base card had a sepia-toned background and color player photo in the foreground with a circular die-cut hole where the player's corresponding coin was meant to fit. The coins came packaged in a 2.5" X 3.5" plastic holder in packs.

There were no subsets or notable Rookie Cards in this set.

Distribution

16 packs per box, three cards + two coins per pack (MSRP: $3.99).

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	30	-	two-per-pack
Bronze	30	-	one-per-pack
Silver	30	-	1:15
Gold	30	-	1:48
Brass Coins	30	-	two-per-pack
Nickel-Silver Coins	30	-	1:20
24K Gold-Plated Brass Coins	30	-	1:48
Solid Silver Coins	30	20	1:2300
Solid Gold Coin Redemptions	30	one-of-one	1:47,200

Checklist

Promos

Ryan Klesko's base card, Bronze parallel, and Brass Coin were issued by Pinnacle as promos. Both cards have the word "SAMPLE" printed diagonally on each side, but there is no special marking on the promo coin.

Base Set

We estimate 94,400 copies of each base card were produced.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Alex Rodriguez
• 4 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 5 Mo Vaughn
• 6 Juan Gonzalez
• 7 Mike Piazza
• 8 Albert Belle
• 9 Chipper Jones
• 10 Andruw Jones
• 11 Greg Maddux
• 12 Hideo Nomo
• 13 Jeff Bagwell
• 14 Manny Ramirez
• 15 Mark McGwire
• 16 Derek Jeter
• 17 Sammy Sosa
• 18 Barry Bonds
• 19 Chuck Knoblauch
• 20 Dante Bichette
• 21 Tony Gwynn
• 22 Ken Caminiti
• 23 Gary Sheffield
• 24 Tim Salmon
• 25 Ivan Rodriguez
• 26 Henry Rodriguez
• 27 Barry Larkin
• 28 Ryan Klesko
• 29 Brian Jordan
• 30 Jay Buhner

Parallels

All 30 base cards were available in the following parallels:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold

For each parallel, the die-cut hole was replaced with an etched-foil team logo in the respective parallel color. Gold parallels featured a gold foil stamped team logo and featured a Dufex finish on the front that emanated from the center of the card.

We estimate the production of each parallel as follows.

• Bronze: 47,200 copies.
• Silver: 3150 copies.
• Gold: 1000 copies.

Coins

In addition to cards, each pack came with two coins. Each coin was available in the following metals:

• Brass
• Nickel-Silver
• 24Kt Gold-Plated Brass
• Solid Silver (limited to 20 coins)
• Solid Gold (one-of-one)

NOTES

• The Solid Gold coins were not inserted directly into packs; instead they were obtained via redemption cards.
• Two versions of the Manny Ramirez Brass coin were distributed - an erroneous version with the words "FINE SILVER" on the back, and a corrected version. The "FINE SILVER" version appears to be about four times tougher to find than the corrected.

We estimate the production of the Coins as such:

• Brass: 94,400 coins
• Nickel-Silver: 2350 coins.
• 24Kt Gold-Plated Brass: 1000 coins.

Brass

Brass coins were an alloy of copper and zinc and had a dull yellow color that looks similar to the appearance of yellow gold.

Nickel-Silver

Nickel coins were made from the silver-white crystalline metal that looks similar to the appearance of silver.

24Kt Gold-Plated Brass

Gold-Plated coins were brass coins covered with a thin layer of 24Kt yellow gold.

Solid Silver

Solid Silver coins were stamped with "FINE SILVER" on the back, limited to 20 copies for each player, and were randomly inserted in packs.

Solid Gold

Solid Gold coins were ones-of-one that were sent to collectors in exchange for the Solid Gold Coin Redemption card randomly inserted in packs.