This page is all about the game cards for Shell's Mr. President Coin Game. Click here to see the main game page. Click here to see the prize page. Click here to see the newspaper page.

The Game Cards

The game cards were given away free at Shell gas stations and were also inserted as an advertising supplement in newspapers. They were made from a sheet of white card stock, about 12" wide by 8 1/2" tall, printed on both sides and die cut over each president to hold the aluminum game pieces.

There were two different versions of the obverse design and four different versions of the reverse design. On all the versions the obverse was printed in three colors (blue, black and gold) and the reverse was printed in two colors (blue and gold). Below are descriptions and photos of all the different game cards.

Obverse Version 1:
This version was issued from the beginning of the game in March, 1968 until July, 1968 and only in a few regions. The prize amount for the first game section is $2,500. Because the distribution area was small, these cards are less common. Here are the identifying features of the Version 1 obverse:

• The prize amount for game one is $2,500.
• The Instant Winner prize legend is not included.
• The instructions for inserting coins are printed between Hayes and Garfield.
• Six of the presidents have “FREE” printed on them.
• The card is not scored down the middle.
• The Taft and Wilson coin slots are not widely-spaced. This, in addition to the lack of scoring, indicates that this version of the card was not intended to be folded.

Obverse Version 2:
Most game cards were printed with the Version 2 obverse. For this version, the $2,500 prize amount was reduced to $1,000 and the layout of the card was redesigned. The Instant Winner prize legend was added between Hayes and Garfield and the instructions for inserting coins were moved up between Fillmore and Pierce. The elements in the bottom section were moved around a little and a space was added between Taft and Wilson to allow for folding of the card. All Version 2 obverses I have seen are the exact same design, and also exhibit the following characteristics:

• The cards are scored down the middle for folding.
• The “Z” in “Prizes” has a small amount of ink missing on the bottom bar of the “Z.” This may have been caused by a defective printing plate.
• “William H. Taft” (blue ink) has a little extra ink after his name.

Reverse Version 1:
This early version was paired with the Version 1 obverse only. It differs from all other reverse versions in the following ways:

• In the bottom-left, under OFFICIAL RULES, there are 7 lines of text.
• It mentions Instant Winner coins in Rule 4 but does not list the prize amounts.
• The sentence ‘Only coins marked “Mr. President Coin Game” are valid for this promotion’ does not appear in the rules nor as a subtitle.
• The sentence ‘NOTICE: MR. PRESIDENT coins are not money …’ does not appear.

Reverse Version 2 (Scarce):
This early version was paired with the Version 1 obverse only. It differs from all other reverse versions in the following ways:

• In the bottom-left, under OFFICIAL RULES, there are 8 lines of text.
• The sentence ‘NOTICE: MR. PRESIDENT coins are not money …’ appears in Rule 3.

Reverse Version 3 (Ohio version):
This version was only paired with obverse Version 2. It can be identified in the following ways:

• In the bottom-left, under OFFICIAL RULES, there are 12 lines of text.
• In Rule 1 it describes how Ohio residents may obtain game materials.
• In Rule 4 it describes how Ohio residents can mail in their game cards and coins to receive their prizes.
• Rule 8 contains the sentence ‘Only coins marked “Mr. President Coin Game” are valid for this promotion.’

Reverse Version 4 (Standard version):
This is the most common version and was only paired with obverse Version 2. It can be identified in the following ways:

• In the bottom-left, under OFFICIAL RULES, there are 9 lines of text.
• The sentence ‘Only coins marked “Shell’s Mr. President Coin Game” are valid for this promotion.’ appears as a subtitle below the sentence ‘Win up to $5,000 cash.’
• Rules 3, 4 and 5 begin at the top of their own columns.

The sentence ‘Only coins marked “Shell’s Mr. President Coin Game” are valid for this promotion.’ was either added to existing plates or was overprinted after the cards had already been printed. The placement of the sentence is not consistent on the game cards and ‘floats’ by up to several millimeters, both vertically and horizontally, in relation to the other text on Version 4 cards. On some cards this sentence is so far out of place it touches the surrounding text.

Many game cards were overprinted for use as an advertising supplement in newspapers. The overprint appears in the top-right corner on the reverse and the text of the overprint usually included the name of the newspaper and the insertion date. The overprint sometimes refers to a Shell Oil ad in the newspaper concerning the Mr. President Coin Game. The earliest insertion date I’ve seen is 3/17/68 and the latest is 9/14/69. It is not known how many different overprints exist but I’ve seen over a dozen.

Below: Obverse Version 1 (Less common)

Below: Obverse Version 2 (Most common)

Below: Reverse Version 1 (Less common)

Below: Reverse Version 2 (Scarce)

Below: Reverse Version 3 (Ohio version)

Below: Reverse Version 4 (Most common)

Below: Various overprints observed on the top-right corner of the backs of game cards.