2009 Topps American Heritage trading cards see history come together in more ways than one. Using designs from the card maker’s archives, the base set spotlight important people in America’s past from politics, business, the military, entertainment and more. From there, it extends to include a broad mix of inserts, autographs and memorabilia cards — both authentic and manufactured.
The first 100 cards in the base set are broken down into ten different ten-card subsets. Each uses a different Topps Baseball design depending on the group. The next 25 cards highlight important events in U.S. history. The final 25 cards (#126-150) chart the 2008 Presidential Election. These cards are short prints, inserted 1:4 packs.
Cards #1-100 all have a couple of parallels. Chrome are printed on chromium card stock and are numbered to 1776. Chrome Refractors are similar except they have a rainbow-looking background. They’re also much rarer, numbered to 76 copies each.
2009 Topps American Heritage Autographs and Memorabilia Cards
2009 Topps American Heritage hobby boxes each have two premium inserts from a mix of autograph, memorabilia cards and manufactured patch card.
The majority of the signed cards come in American Celebrity Signatures. All are numbered to 150 copies or less. Subjects are a mix of TV and movie personalities and a couple of Olympians. Michael Phelps is the biggest name on the checklist. A redemption for blues legend B.B. King was included in packs but the final cards were never produced.
The most valuable cards in 2009 Topps American Heritage are the cut signatures. The product has several themes and some major autographs within them. Each is a one-of-one, so they’re also extremely tough to find both in packs and on the secondary market today.
Memorabilia cards come in a few forms. American Celebrity has clothing worn by the same subjects as the autographs (and the similar basic insert). Baseball superstars from the past have swatches and bat pieces in American Legends Relics. However, the most varied of the memorabilia sets is American History, Monuments and Presidential Relics. These have a variety of pieces embedded in them ranging from White House furniture to stadium seats to ballot chads.
Additional Inserts
Presidential Patches is a set of manufactured patch cards. Each has a letter from a U.S. President’s last name. The idea is that you can spell their name out. Each letter for each President is limited to 50 copies.
Commanders in Chief continue to be a theme into their own basic insert set. American Presidents presents each one with the 1952 Topps Baseball design. Baseball players are the focus in American Icons and American Legends. Finally, there’s a basic version of American Celebrity.
Later in the year, the follow-up 2009 Topps American Heritage: Heroes Edition was released. This set took on a similar format and structure.
2009 Topps American Heritage Checklist
Click on links to shop for cards or check current market values on eBay.
Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 24
Boxes per case: 12
Shop for 2009 Topps American Heritage boxes on eBay.
Base Set
150 cards.
Writers
1 Mark Twain
2 Harriet Beecher Stowe
3 Washington Irving
4 Edgar Allan Poe
5 Nathaniel Hawthorne
6 Emily Dickinson
7 Walt Whitman
8 Henry David Thoreau
9 F. Scott Fitzgerald
10 Ernest Hemingway
Explorers
11 Meriwether Lewis
12 William Clark
13 Robert Peary
14 Daniel Boone
15 Zebulon Pike
16 Jedediah Strong Smith
17 John Wesley Powell
18 John Charles Fremont
19 Ameila Earhart
20 Christopher Columbus
Military Leaders
21 John Paul Jones
22 Davy Crockett
23 George Marshall
24 Douglas MacArthur
25 Winfield Scott
26 William Tecumseh Sherman
27 Chester Nimitz
28 David Farragut
29 Nathanael Greene
30 George Meade
Founding Fathers/Revolutionary Heroes
31 Benjamin Franklin
32 Alexander Hamilton
33 Paul Revere
34 Thomas Paine
35 John Hancock
36 Samuel Adams
37 Crispus Attucks
38 Patrick Henry
39 Peyton Randolph
40 Nathan Hale
Inventors
41 Thomas Edison
42 Orville & Wilbur Wright
43 George Washington Carver
44 Alexander Graham Bell
45 Samuel Morse
46 Philo Farnsworth
47 Eli Whitney
48 Robert Fulton
49 Clarence Birdseye
50 Elisha Otis
Civil Rights Leaders
51 Martin Luther King Jr.
52 Malcolm X
53 Harriet Tubman
54 Frederick Douglass
55 Barbara Rose Johns
56 Susan B. Anthony
57 Cesar Chavez
58 W.E.B. DuBois
59 Booker T. Washington
60 Elizabeth Jennings Graham
Artists
61 Thomas Eakins
62 Gutzon Borglum
63 Frederic Remington
64 Gilbert Stuart
65 Benjamin Latrobe
66 Norman Rockwell
67 Winslow Homer
68 Mathew Brady
69 Thomas Nast
70 Frederic Edwin Church
Politicians
71 Henry Clay
72 John C. Calhoun
73 Robert F. Kennedy
74 Daniel Webster
75 John Jay
76 Robert Livingston
77 Charles Sumner
78 Thurgood Marshall
79 William Jennings Bryan
80 Henry Cabot Lodge
Entertainers
81 “Buffalo Bill” Cody
82 P.T. Barnum
83 George & Ira Gershwin
84 Harry Houdini
85 Buster Keaton
86 Duke Ellington
87 Joe Namath
88 Tony Pastor
89 Will Rogers
90 Clara Bow
Industrialists
91 John D. Rockefeller
92 Henry Ford
93 John Paul Getty
94 J.P. Morgan
95 Samuel Colt
96 William Randolph Hearst
97 John Deere
98 John Stetson
99 Frank Woolworth
100 Andrew Carnegie
Great American Events
101 The Landing at Plymouth Rock
102 The Boston Tea Party
103 The Signing of the Declaration of Independence
104 The Constitution Is Ratified
105 The Treaty of Paris
106 George Washington’s Farewell Address
107 The Louisiana Purchase
108 The California Gold Rush
109 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
110 The Emancipation Proclamation
111 The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
112 Seward’s Folly
113 Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
114 The Treaty of Versailles
115 Women Win the Right To Vote
116 Mount Rushmore Is Completed
117 The nd of Prohibition
118 V-E Day
119 V-J Day
120 Brown v. Board of Education
121 Hawaii Becomes the 50th state
122 First Televised Presidential Debate
123 Martin Luther King Jr. Gives “I Have a Dream” Speech
124 Man Walks on the Moon
125 The Camp David Accords
2008 Election Collection – 1:4 packs
126 Barack Obama
127 Barack Obama
128 Barack Obama
129 Barack Obama
130 Barack Obama
131 Barack Obama
132 John McCain
133 John McCain
134 John McCain
135 John McCain
136 John McCain
137 John McCain
138 Barack Obama
139 Barack Obama
140 Barack Obama
141 John McCain
142 John McCain
143 Barack Obama & John McCain
144 Joe Biden & Sarah Palin
145 Barack Obama & John McCain
146 Barack Obama & John McCain
147 2008 Election Night
148 Barack Obama
149 Joe Biden
150 Michelle Obama
Chrome Parallels
100 cards, 1:2 hobby packs, 1:7 retail. Cards /1776
Set is numbered C1-C100.
Final 50 cards do not have parallels.
Chrome Refractor Parallels
100 cards, 1:53 hobby packs, 1:100 retail. Cards /76.
Set is numbered C1-C100.
Final 50 cards do not have parallels.
American Celebrity Autographs
9 cards, 1:447 hobby packs, 1:630 retail packs.
A redemption card for B.B. King was included in packs but the card wasn’t made.
ACA-DC David Cross /100
ACA-EE Erik Estrada /150
ACA-JM Jackie Mason /150
ACA-JV Jesse Ventura /150
ACA-KO Keith Olbermann /100
ACA-MP Michael Phelps /25
ACA-PT Penn and Teller /150
ACA-RT Rip Torn /150
ACA-WM Kerri Walsh, Misty May Treanor /100
American History Cut Signatures
25 cards, 1:24,480 hobby packs; 1:19,500 retail packs; 1:54,000 blaster packs.
AHCS-BB Bernard Baruch 1/1
AHCS-BT Boss Tweed 1/1
AHCS-CM Christopher Morley 1/1
AHCS-CWF Cyrus West Field 1/1
AHCS-EG Edgar Guest 1/1
AHCS-EW Earl Warren 1/1
AHCS-GC Glenn Cunningham 1/1
AHCS-GD Admiral George Dewey 1/1
AHCS-HH Huntington Hartford 1/1
AHCS-HK Helen Keller 1/1
AHCS-JEH J. Edgar Hoover 1/1
AHCS-JH John Hay 1/1
AHCS-JW John Wannamaker 1/1
AHCS-LS Leopold Stokowski 1/1
AHCS-OW Orville Wright 1/1
AHCS-OWH Oliver Wendell Holmes 1/1
AHCS-RB Richard Byrd 1/1
AHCS-RTL R. Todd Lincoln 1/1
AHCS-SA Susan B. Anthony 1/1
AHCS-SM Stanley Marcus 1/1
AHCS-TD Thomas Dewey 1/1
AHCS-WJB William Jennings Bryan 1/1
AHCS-WS William Seward 1/1
AHCS-WTG W.T. Grant 1/1
AHCS-WW Walter Winchell 1/1
American History Cut Dual Signatures
5 cards, 1:195,840 hobby packs; 1:81,500 blaster packs.
AHDCS-EE Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower 1/1
AHDCS-GG James Garfield, Lucretia Garfield 1/1
AHDCS-HH Benjamin Harrison, Caroline Harrison 1/1
AHDCS-HHH Herbert Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover 1/1
AHDCS-WC Daniel Webster, Henry Clay 1/1
American History Cut Quad Signatures
3 cards, 1:65,280 hobby packs.
AHQCS-GHLB Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger 1/1
AHQCS-GWCH Al Gore, Henry Wallace, Schuyler Colfax, Hannibal Hamlin 1/1
AHQCS-SWHB General William Tecumseh Sherman, General William Wells, General John Hartranft, General Benjamin Butler 1/1
American History Cut Signature Relics
3 cards, 1:65,280 hobby packs.
AHCSR-CC Calvin Coolidge 1/1
AHCSR-JQA John Quincy Adams 1/1
AHCSR-WW Woodrow Wilson 1/1
American Legends Cut Signatures
10 cards, 1:60,000 hobby packs; 1:32,750 retail packs; 1:81,500 blaster packs.
ALCS-BR Babe Ruth 1/1
ALCS-GS George Sisler 1/1
ALCS-JF Jimmie Foxx 1/1
ALCS-JM Johnny Mize 1/1
ALCS-JR Jackie Robinson 1/1
ALCS-MM Mickey Mantle 1/1
ALCS-MO Mel Ott 1/1
ALCS-PR Pee Wee Reese 1/1
ALCS-RC Roy Campanella 1/1
ALCS-TS Tris Speaker 1/1
American Legends and Presidents Dual Cuts
3 cards, 1:65,280 hobby packs.
ALPD-RO Jackie Robinson, Barack Obama 1/1
ALPD-NF Richard Nixon, Jimmie Foxx 1/1
ALPD-WR Ted Williams, Teddy Roosevelt 1/1
American Celebrity Relics
9 cards, 1:87 hobby packs, 1:174 retail packs.
ACR-BBK, EE, JV and WM distributed via redemption.
ACR-BBK B.B. King
ACR-DC David Cross
ACR-EE Erik Estrada
ACR-JM Jackie Mason
ACR-JV Jesse Ventura
ACR-KO Keith Olbermann
ACR-PT Penn and Teller
ACR-RT Rip Torn
ACR-WM Kerri Walsh, Misty May Treanor
American History, Monuments and Presidential Relics
54 cards, 2 total Relics or Autographs per hobby box.
Group Odds:
- A – 1:282 hobby, 1:1,200 retail
- B – 1:228 hobby, 1:925 retail
- C- 1:33 hobby, 1:135 retail
- D – 1:195 hobby, 1:825 retail
AHR-AG Al Gore A
AHR-AJ Andrew Johnson A
AHR-BC1 Bill Clinton – Jacobs Field Seat C
AHR-BC2 Bill Clinton – Camden Yards Seat C
AHR-BC3 Bill Clinton – Shea Stadium Wall Padding B
AHR-BH Benjamin Harrison A
AHR-CC Calvin Coolidge – White House Roof A
AHR-CC2 Calvin Coolidge – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-DDE Dwight Eisenhower C
AHR-DE Duke Ellington C
AHR-ER Eleanor Roosevelt B
AHR-FDR1 Franklin D. Roosevelt – White House Floor A
AHR-FDR2 Franklin D. Roosevelt – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-FDR3 Franklin D. Roosevelt – Pillow B
AHR-GB George H. W. Bush C
AHR-GC Grover Cleveland A
AHR-GWB1 George W. Bush – Tie A
AHR-GWB2 George W. Bush – Yankee Stadium Wall C
AHR-GWB3 George W. Bush – Busch Stadium Seat C
AHR-GWB4 George W. Bush – Florida Ballot Chad A
AHR-HH Herbert Hoover – White House Floor A
AHR-HH2 Herbert Hoover – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-HST1 Harry S Truman – White House Floor A
AHR-HST2 Harry S Truman – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-JAG James A. Garfield A
AHR-JB James Buchanan A
AHR-JFK John F. Kennedy – Sweater B
AHR-JK John F. Kennedy – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-JM James Monroe A
AHR-JN Joe Namath B
AHR-JP James Polk A
AHR-JPII1 Pope John Paul II – Yankee Stadium Wall C
AHR-JPII2 Pope John Paul II – Shea Stadium Wall Padding B
AHR-JPS John Phillips Sousa C
AHR-JQA John Quincy Adams A
AHR-JT John Tyler A
AHR-LJ Lyndon B. Johnson – Sofa A
AHR-MB Michael Bloomberg B
AHR-MVB Martin Van Buren A
AHR-PBXVI Pope Benedict XVI C
AHR-RG Rudy Giuliani C
AHR-RN Richard Nixon C
AHR-RR Ronald Reagan C
AHR-TR Theodore Roosevelt A
AHR-USSC U.S.S. Constitution D
AHR-WGH Warren G. Harding – White House Roof A
AHR-WGH2 Warren G. Harding – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-WHH William Henry Harrison A
AHR-WHT William Howard Taft – White House Roof A
AHR-WHT2 William Howard Taft – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-WM William McKinley A
AHR-WW Woodrow Wilson – White House Roof A
AHR-WW2 Woodrow Wilson – Griffith Stadium Seat C
AHR-ZT Zachary Taylor A
American Legends Relics
15 cards, 1:1,472 hobby packs, 1:1,590 retail packs.
ALR-BR Babe Ruth/25
ALR-GS George Sisler/25
ALR-HW Honus Wagner/25
ALR-JF Jimmie Foxx/25
ALR-JM Johnny Mize/25
ALR-JR Jackie Robinson/25
ALR-LG Lou Gehrig/25
ALR-MM Mickey Mantle/25
ALR-MO Mel Ott/25
ALR-PR Pee Wee Reese/25
ALR-RC Roy Campanella/25
ALR-RH Rogers Hornsby/25
ALR-TC Ty Cobb/25
ALR-TM Thurman Munson/25
ALR-TS Tris Speaker/25
American Legends Dual Relics
5 cards, 1:4,950 hobby packs, 1:6,500 retail packs.
ALDR-GR Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth /20
ALDR-MH Johnny Mize, Rogers Hornsby /20
ALDR-RC Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella /20
ALDR-SF George Sisler, Jimmie Foxx /20
ALDR-WR Honus Wagner, Pee Wee Reese /20
Presidential Patches
43 cards, 1:36 hobby packs, 1:144 retail packs.
Each President has a different patch for each letter in his last name. Each letter is /50.
PP-AJ Andrew Jackson
PP-AJ2 Andrew Johnson
PP-AL Abraham Lincoln
PP-BC Bill Clinton
PP-BH Benjamin Harrison
PP-BO Barack Obama
PP-CA Chester A. Arthur
PP-CC Calvin Coolidge
PP-DE Dwight D. Eisenhower
PP-FP Franklin Pierce
PP-FR Franklin D. Roosevelt
PP-GB George Bush
PP-GC Grover Cleveland
PP-GF Gerald R. Ford
PP-GW George Washington
PP-GWB George W. Bush
PP-HH Herbert Hoover
PP-HT Harry S Truman
PP-JA John Adams
PP-JB James Buchanan
PP-JC Jimmy Carter
PP-JG James A. Garfield
PP-JK John F. Kennedy
PP-JM James Monroe
PP-JMA James Madison
PP-JP James K. Polk
PP-JQA John Quincy Adams
PP-JT John Tyler
PP-LJ Lyndon B. Johnson
PP-MB Martin Van Buren
PP-MF Millard Fillmore
PP-RH Rutherford B. Hayes
PP-RN Richard M. Nixon
PP-RR Ronald Reagan
PP-TJ Thomas Jefferson
PP-TR Theodore Roosevelt
PP-UG Ulysses S. Grant
PP-WH Warren G. Harding
PP-WHH William Henry Harrison
PP-WK William McKinley
PP-WT William H. Taft
PP-WW Woodrow Wilson
PP-ZT Zachary Taylor
American Celebrity
10 cards, 1:12 packs.
AC1 Jackie Mason
AC2 B.B. King
AC3 Erik Estrada
AC4 Penn and Teller
AC5 Rip Torn
AC6 Jesse Ventura
AC7 Michael Phelps
AC8 David Cross
AC9 Keith Olbermann
AC10 Kerri Walsh, Misty May Treanor
American Icons
10 cards, 1:487 hobby packs, 1:655 retail packs.
AI1 Babe Ruth/99
AI2 Jackie Robinson/99
AI3 Lou Gehrig/99
AI4 Honus Wagner/99
AI5 Ty Cobb/99
AI6 Cy Young/99
AI7 Roy Campanella/99
AI8 Walter Johnson/99
AI9 Johnny Mize/99
AI10 Christy Mathewson/99
American Legends
18 cards, 1:119 hobby packs, 1:200 retail packs.
AL1 Walter Johnson/199
AL2 George Sisler/199
AL3 Ty Cobb/199
AL4 Thurman Munson/199
AL5 Christy Mathewson/199
AL6 Johnny Mize/199
AL7 Mickey Mantle/199
AL8 Babe Ruth/199
AL9 Rogers Hornsby/199
AL10 Pee Wee Reese/199
AL11 Lou Gehrig/199
AL12 Cy Young/199
AL13 Jimmie Foxx/199
AL14 Honus Wagner/199
AL15 Roy Campanella/199
AL16 Jackie Robinson/199
AL17 Mel Ott/199
AL18 Tris Speaker/199
American Presidents
44 cards, 1:16 packs.
AP1 George Washington
AP2 John Adams
AP3 Thomas Jefferson
AP4 James Madison
AP5 James Monroe
AP6 John Quincy Adams
AP7 Andrew Jackson
AP8 Martin Van Buren
AP9 William Henry Harrison
AP10 John Tyler
AP11 James K. Polk
AP12 Zachary Taylor
AP13 Millard Fillmore
AP14 Franklin Pierce
AP15 James Buchanan
AP16 Abraham Lincoln
AP17 Andrew Johnson
AP18 Ulysses S. Grant
AP19 Rutherford B. Hayes
AP20 James A. Garfield
AP21 Chester A. Arthur
AP22 Grover Cleveland
AP23 Benjamin Harrison
AP24 Grover Cleveland
AP25 William McKinley
AP26 Theodore Roosevelt
AP27 William Howard Taft
AP28 Woodrow Wilson
AP29 Warren G. Harding
AP30 Calvin Coolidge
AP31 Herbert Hoover
AP32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
AP33 Harry S Truman
AP34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
AP35 John F. Kennedy
AP36 Lyndon B. Johnson
AP37 Richard Nixon
AP38 Gerald R. Ford
AP39 Jimmy Carter
AP40 Ronald Reagan
AP41 George Bush
AP42 Bill Clinton
AP43 George W. Bush
AP44 Barack Obama
