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 for product design was one of many innovations the company introduced the Hobby to (e.g., Dufex technology, press plates, etc.) that was polarizing for collectors.

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.

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	-	2:1
Bronze	30	-	1:1
Silver	30	-	1:15
Gold	30	-	1:48
Brass Coins	30	-	2:1
Nickel-Silver Coins	30	-	1:20
24K Gold-Plated Brass Coins	30	-	1:48
Solid Silver Coins	30	20	1:2,300
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

• 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 a foil-stamped 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.

Coins

Each pack came with two coins and 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.

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 a 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 limited to 20 copies for each player and were randomly inserted in packs.

Solid Gold

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