Danbury Mint 22kt Gold Billy Williams

Lately, most of my player collection attention has been given to Darwin Barney.  As an active player, there always seems to be new cards and rainbows to chase.  I'm fine with that, but I also have to make sure that I don't completely ignore the other players I collect.

I've recently found some Billy Williams cards to add to his collection and I'll get a post up as they arrive.

Today's card is this golden beauty...

...from Danbury Mint's 22kt Cooperstown Collection.  

The card is encased in acrylic and this is one card that will have to remain in its plastic prison.

The back of the card features his career stats.

The Danbury Mint set is another that I knew nothing about, so I went to school on it.

The entire collection is made up of 200 cards.  They were released in four 50-card series between 1996 and 2003.  Cards were sent, two per month, to subscribers.  There was an album into which you could place your cards as you received them.  Only people that completed  the first series were allowed to purchase the subsequent series.  That fact makes the last 150 cards a bit more scarce and a bit more expensive.

Billy's card is #99, meaning its from the second series.  The Standard Catalog puts a price of $6.00 on it, but I was lucky enough to pick it up for 99¢.

I've gone through the checklist and found nine Cubs.  Oddly, other that Billy Williams, none of the nine are players I collect.  No Banks, Sandberg, or Dawson.  Instead, the Cubs are...

Don Kessinger, #23--interesting choice for the only Cub in series one.
Fergie Jenkins, #70
Ron Santo, #92
Sammy Sosa, #95
Billy Williams, #99
Mark Grace, #119
Bill Madlock, #129
Moises Alou, #153
Kerry Wood, #199

I'm pretty sure that the list.  I've never seen a picture of the Mark Grace card, and it came out in 2002, so its possible that it shows him with the Diamondbacks.