Goudey's 1933 set has two Lou Gehrig cards, number 92 and number 160, and they show the same picture. Gehrig is in pinstripes in a batting stance, waiting on the pitch against a pale blue sky, his name in bold blue in the upper right corner. The only reliable way to tell the two apart is the number on the back.
Two cards, one picture. The number on the back is the only reliable way to tell them apart.
#160 is the harder of the two to find, especially in high grade. #92 is the more often seen, and from the front it is the same card in every respect.
The set has 240 numbers and was the first major gum set distributed nationally, with a stick of gum in every pack and a red Big League Chewing Gum banner across the bottom of most fronts. Only 239 cards were in the packs that year. Number 106, Napoleon Lajoie, was held back and printed in 1934, then mailed to collectors who wrote in to ask for it. The green-ink backs describe each card as one of a series of 240 Baseball Stars. Ruth has four cards in the set; Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx have two each.
The cards were sold through a year that mattered to him. On July 6, 1933, Gehrig played in the first All-Star Game. On August 17 he played his 1,308th consecutive game, passing Everett Scott's record. On September 29 he married Eleanor Twitchell. He hit .334 with 32 home runs.
Goudey's cardboard was porous and its printing uneven, and condition across the set is notoriously hard: tilted centering, creases running in from the borders, and backs that have toned.
