1962 Topps #181 Paul Brown
About Paul Brown
1962 Topps #181 is Paul Brown's rookie card, a second-series Phillie. It comes two ways - a no-green-tint version and a green-tint version - so a complete run at #181 means chasing both collectible states. Behind the card sits a five-game 1961 debut season. The 20-year-old right-hander came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning against the Cubs on July 23 at Connie Mack Stadium, surrendered a three-run homer to George Altman an inning later, and closed the year 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA over 10 innings, one of those five outings a start.
Paul Dwayne Brown, a right-handed pitcher born June 18, 1941, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and raised in Holdenville, Oklahoma, graduated from Moss High School and attended the University of Oklahoma. The Phillies signed him as an amateur free agent on February 3, 1960, and all but seven games of his eight-year professional career (1960-1965, 1967-1968) were spent inside their organization. Brown reached the majors on July 23, 1961, at age 20. He pitched for Philadelphia in parts of four seasons - 1961, 1962, 1963 and a two-game return in 1968 - going 0-8 with a 6.00 ERA over 36 appearances, 12 starts and one save, striking out 45 and walking 47 in 93 innings. His busiest year was 1962, when he made 23 appearances. Tommy John, whom the Phillies scouted and invited to spring training in 1961, became friends with Brown and remembered him as an outstanding pitcher and a nice young man. Brown's younger brother Jackie pitched in the majors and later coached; his son Daren managed the Seattle Mariners on an interim basis in 2010.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Print variations
Two states of #181 are tracked individually: 181a - No Green Tint and 181b - Green Tint. The difference is on the front of the card (green tint).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 181a - No Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 211 | 1 | 14 | 82 | 71 | 28 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 181b - Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 59 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #181 card?
It is card #181 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Paul Brown of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Is 1962 Topps #181 a rookie card?
Yes - #181 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of Paul Brown.
Does 1962 Topps #181 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked separately: 181a - No Green Tint (No green tint - the standard first printing) and 181b - Green Tint (Green tint - the color-shifted second printing of series 2). Owning any one of them fills the #181 slot; the master set counts each state.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-03.