Ring is from 1941, produced by Ostby & Barton of Rhode Island, offered as a premium for the “Superman Defense Club” milk program, costing 2 bottlecaps and 10¢. Hake’s Pop Culture Memorabilia 2008 Price Guide reports only 10 known: 4-Good, 5-Fine, 1-VF. In comparison, the related ring from the same promotion with a letter and eyeball on top has 27 reported known. The rarest of the 2 designs being offered here has top sides showing a star and planet. Snap-off brass top has letter “S,” diagonal lightning bolt and extremely well-struck image of Superman from waist up breaking a chain across his chest with image surrounded by accent lines. While the ring bands are perfectly formed, this ring was apparently worn by the club member. The brass interior surfaces that would have touched a finger are a combination 70% tan to dark brown where luster disappeared and 30% remaining bright luster. Exterior surfaces are much less worn. Areas of missing luster are on the lower half of the ring, below the design area with about 30% luster loss. The ring sides with planet and star designs have only tiny luster loss. The removable ring top is actually still Exc. with just a tiny line of luster off the top of the letter “S” visible to the naked eye and a bit more luster loss showing only with magnification. Overall we grade the interior surfaces as having just “Good” luster but the exterior top has two-thirds we grade as “VF” and interior lower third as “VG.” As such, the ring is still highly lustrous and displays beautifully. The Hake Guide 2008 values for unqualified condition grades of Fine are $8,000 and VF $20,000. This is our first example in nearly 3 years. We’ve set the opening at an extremely conservative amount. From the Joe Gura Premium Collection.