1992 Smithsonian Institution

1992 Smithsonian Institution

Updated On: September 13, 2016

Description:  "These cards were a licensed product and were produced through the Office of Product Development and licensing with Club Pro Set and curated by staff at the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies."(1)  These sets kept true to the 9-card per set standard and mirror the 1992 Club Pro Set cards in every way except they included a Smithsonian Institution logo somewhere on the front and the backs had the copyright information changed to "1992 Smithsonian Institution."  In total, 8 different sets are known to exist (not including their supplementary counterparts).  Below is the list of known sets ready for you to use and report back variations!
Picture edited to show header and mention of Club Pro Set - From Smithsonian
Error?:  If you read the text in the picture above, you will notice that the 'Reptiles' set is mentioned as being an upcoming topic.  The problem is it has the 1992 Club Pro Set copyright and no Smithsonian Logo!  I have since moved the set to this page as I am convinced it is a copyright/logo error.  After all, we now know not all the cards printed for the Smithsonian Institution had their logo printed on the front!
No Smithsonian Logos!
New Discoveries:  I have also just confirmed that #9 gold, yellow of the Becoming President set has a copyright variation, "1992 Club Pro Set!"  So this double error is the same as the ones on the Reptiles sets!  A fellow collector has checked his three sets and reported they all have the "1992 Smithsonian Institution" copyright except for gold #9!  And as mentioned, these sets DON'T have a Smithsonian Institution logo anywhere on the front!  Its a great day indeed!

New Discoveries Continued:  Another collector confirmed Air & Space 1-9 gold and silver orange are, in fact, 1992 copyright variations.  He also discovered the Presidents 19-27 gold orange set is also a 1992 variation.  This new information now implies that Presidents 1-9 and 19-27 could have both orange back 1992 AND 1993 cards!  There is a mix of them confirmed on the list now!  I am not so convinced Air & Space 19-27 will have them as they are all orange 1992, but it is possible*.  The corresponding boxes have been highlighted in green for your review.

Gold
Silver
Bronze
Cat. No
Category
# Cards
Y
YP
O
Y
YP
O
Y
YP
O
1
Air & Space 1-9
9
9
9
9
9
9
2
Air & Space 10-18
9
9
1

9
1E
9
1
3A
Air & Space 19-27 - ©1992
9
9
9
9
9
E
9
3B
Air & Space 19-27 - ©1993*
9
4
Becoming President**
9
9
9
E
5
Buried Treasures: Minerals
9
9
9
E
6
Dinosaurs
9
9
9
9
7
Latinos
9
9
9
9
8
Leaves
9
9
9
9A
Presidents 1-9 - ©1992
9
9
9
9
9
9
9B
Presidents 1-9 - ©1993
9
9
10
Presidents 10-18
9
9
4
9
4
E
4
11A
Presidents 19-27 - ©1992
9
9
9
9
9
11B
Presidents 19-27 - ©1993
9
9
9
12
Presidents 28-36
9
9
9
9
13
Presidents 37-45
9
9
9
9
14
Reptiles***
9
9
E
9
9
15
Save the Planet
9
9
9
9
**No Smithsonian Logo on Front
162
108
5
54
117
4
45
81
5
54

Note:  All the sets with a number listed are confirmed to exist and are in my possession.  The ones with an 'E' listed are confirmed to exist by another collector.  Those which lack a number have not been confirmed, but should exist.  The greyed out boxes do NOT exist.

 Y = Yellow, O = Orange, YP = Yellow Picture Variation Exists (Number of cards affected Listed)
Orange = 1993 Copyright unless Green
Green = 1992 Copyright
Burnt Red = Sealed Pack

 Variations:  From eBay auctions, I spotted picture variations in the Presidents 10-18 card set!  These are not the same types of variations discussed in the 1992 Club Pro Set page.  The cards all have silver yellow backs!  UPDATE:  All three sets (G, S, & B) have been CONFIRMED to have the variations!

All three sets have this variation!
And yet one more! Bronze #15 of Air & Space is zoomed in as well.


The bronze #15 has been confirmed to have BOTH variations.  The Earth is Upside Down on the left!

Additional Information:  These sets were valued at $1, but Pro Set did not sell them to the Smithsonian Institution.  Instead, they donated the cards and the Smithsonian gave them away to their patrons.  The Smithsonian Institution also received Club Pro Set cards.  Some sets were left over and are now part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Notes:  A very special "Thank You" to Mr. Tad Bennicoff, Assistant Archivist, The Smithsonian Institution Archives, for his time and effort in providing me with scans from their archives for my review.
Citations

(1) Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 05-046, Smithsonian Institution, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Program Files.
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