1909-1911 T206 White Border SGC Graded Near Set (520/524)—Missing the Big Four

• Sold For: $52,875
• Year: 1909
• Auction: 2009 May
• Lot #: 1
• Auction Category: Prewar Baseball - T Tobacco Cards

A century has passed since the early summer of 1909 when the American Tobacco Company (ATC) began an advertising campaign to market packages of Piedmont, Sweet Caporal and Sovereign cigarettes by distributing cardboard renderings of contemporary baseball stars. Though the half-page advertisements did not mention the other brands associated with the consortium, the “150 Series” became a runaway success on both the national and regional levels (“The Encyclopedia of Baseball Card, Volume 3—20th Century Tobacco Cards”, 1986, Lipset). From the research of Scott Reader, an article from the August 9, 1909 edition of the Charlotte Observer notes, “Since the beginning of summer, when the American Tobacco Company commenced putting the pictures in their packages of cigarettes, the small boy has been more or less of a nuisance by stopping young and old men as they walked along the street begging for “baseball men.” Although tobacco cards had been collected for decades, the ardor of what was to be designated as T206 helped root the baseball card collecting hobby. Securing examples from this famed set is considered a rite of passage; as holding a tangible piece of baseball history often leads to a lifelong pursuit of “The Monster.” In commemoration of the one hundredth year since its release, offered is a 1909-1911 T206 White Border near set of (520/524) cards that is missing only the “Big Four” (Plank and Magie are available separately in this auction) for completion. With each card graded and encapsulated by SGC, this #6 ranked gathering demonstrates an average weighted score of 46.69 with an accompanying set superiority rating of 45.24. The technical grade assessments follow: (4) SGC 80 (.8%), (5) SGC 70 (.9%), (95) SGC 60 (18.2%), (184) SGC 50 (35.4%), (188) SGC 40 (36.3%), (34) SGC 30 (6.5%), (6) SGC 20 (1.1%) and (4) SGC 10 (.8%). Additionally, the overall composition of the all-important advertising backs display: (100 uncommon backs) with (1) Carolina Brights, (36) Cycle (Seventeen 460), (2) El Principe De Gales, (23) Old Mill, (6) Polar Bear, (31) Sovereign (Two 460), (1) Tolstoi, (12) factory overprints and the remaining (420) with either Piedmont or Sweet Caporal backs. Featured are Hall of Famers/Stars: (81 cards, all common backs, unless noted) with SGC 60: Bresnahan (with Bat), M. Brown (Chicago on Shirt, Polar Bear), Chance (Batting), Chance (Yellow Portrait, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), Chesbro, Mathewson (Dark Cap), Speaker, Wheat (Cycle 460); SGC 50: Baker, Crawford (with Bat, Sovereign), Jennings (Both Hands Showing, Cycle 460), Lajoie (Throwing, Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), C. Young (Glove Shows); SGC 40: Bresnahan (Portrait, Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), Cobb (Bat on Shoulder), Cobb (Red Portrait), Crawford (Throwing, Sovereign), Flick, Griffith (Batting, Cycle 460), Johnson (Hands at Chest), Johnson (Portrait, Sovereign), Lajoie (Portrait), Lajoie (with Bat), Marquard (Follow-Through, Cycle 460), Mathewson (Portrait), Tinker (Bat on Shoulder, Sovereign 460), Willis (with Bat, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint); SGC 30: Cobb (Bat Off Shoulder), Cobb (Green Portrait), Mathewson (White Cap), C. Young (Bare Hand Shows); SGC 20: C. Young (Portrait, Sovereign); Southern Leaguers: (48 cards, 17 Old Mill) with SGC 60: Bernhard, Mullaney, Revelle (Old Mill), Thornton; SGC 50: Carey (Old Mill), Coles (Old Mill), J. Hart, Helm (Old Mill), E. Howard (Old Mill), Kiernan, Hickman, McCauley (Old Mill), Orth, Paige, Rockenfeld, Ryan, Thebo, Westlake, F. White; Key Variations/Errors: (6 cards) with SGC 60: F. Smith (Chicago & Boston, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), SGC 30: O’Hara (St. Louis, Polar Bear, SGC 20: Demmitt (St. Louis, Polar Bear) and SGC 10: Elberfeld (Washington, Portrait). To review the magnificent scope of this carefully pieced-together collection, multiple images are available on our website, along with the respective grades for each card. Hall of Famers/Stars: (81 cards, all common backs, unless noted) with SGC 60: Bresnahan (with Bat), M. Brown (Chicago on Shirt, Polar Bear), Chance (Batting), Chance (Yellow Portrait, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), Chesbro, F. Clarke, Evers (with Bat, Cubs on Shirt), Gandil, Huggins (Hands at Mouth), Mathewson (Dark Cap), McGraw (Finger in Air, Sovereign), Speaker, Tinker (Hands on Knees), Waddell (Portrait), Wheat (Cycle 460); SGC 50: Baker, Beckley (Cycle), Bender (No Trees), Bender (with Trees), Chase (Blue Portrait), Chase (Pink Portrait), Chase (Throwing, Dark Cap, Cycle), Cicotte (Sovereign), F. Clarke (with Bat, Sovereign), J. Collins, Crawford (with Bat, Sovereign), G. Davis, Evers (with Bat, Chicago on Shirt), Huggins (Portrait, Cycle), Jennings (Both Hands Showing, Cycle 460), Joss (Pitching), Keeler (with Bat, Sovereign), Lajoie (Throwing, Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), Marquard (Hands at Thighs), McGraw (Portrait, No Cap), McGraw (Portrait, with Cap), Tinker (Portrait), Waddell (Throwing), C. Young (Glove Shows); SGC 40: Bender (Portrait), Bresnahan (Portrait, Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), M. Brown (Cubs on Shirt), Chance (Red Portrait), Chase (Holding Trophy), Chase (Throwing, White Cap), Cobb (Bat on Shoulder), Cobb (Red Portrait), E. Collins, Crawford (Throwing, Sovereign), Duffy, Evers (Portrait), Flick, Griffith (Batting, Cycle 460), Griffith (Portrait), Jennings (Portrait), Johnson (Hands at Chest), Johnson (Portrait, Sovereign), Joss (Portrait), Keeler (Portrait), Kelley, Lajoie (Portrait), Lajoie (with Bat), Marquard (Follow-Through, Cycle 460), Marquard (Portrait), Mathewson (Portrait), McGinnity, McGraw (Glove at Hip), Tinker (Bat on Shoulder, Sovereign 460), Wallace (Sovereign), Walsh, Willis (Portrait, Sovereign), Willis (Throwing), Willis (with Bat, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint); SGC 30: M. Brown (Portrait), Cobb (Bat Off Shoulder), Cobb (Green Portrait), Jennings (One Hand Showing), Mathewson (White Cap), Tinker (Bat Off Shoulder), C. Young (Bare Hand Shows); SGC 20: C. Young (Portrait, Sovereign); Southern Leaguers: (48 cards, 17 Old Mill) with SGC 60: Bernhard, Mullaney, Revelle (Old Mill), Thornton; SGC 50: Carey (Old Mill), Coles (Old Mill), J. Hart, Helm (Old Mill), E. Howard (Old Mill), Kiernan, Hickman, McCauley (Old Mill), Orth, Paige, Rockenfeld, Ryan, Thebo, Westlake, F. White; SGC 40: Bastian, Bay, Breitenstein (Old Mill), Ellam (Old Mill), Foster, Fritz, Guiheen (Old Mill), B. Hart (Old Mill), Hooker, D. Jordan, King, Lafitte (Old Mill), Lentz, Lipe (Old Mill), M. Miller, Molesworth, Otey (Old Mill), Reagan, Seitz, Shaughnessy, C. Smith (Old Mill), S. Smith (Old Mill); SGC 30: Cranston (Old Mill), Greminger, Perdue, Stark (Old Mill), Violat; SGC 20; Manion; SGC 10: Persons; Key Variations/Errors: (6 cards) with SGC 60: F. Smith (Chicago & Boston, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint); SGC 40: G. Brown (Washington), SGC 30: Kleinow (Boston), O’Hara (St. Louis, Polar Bear); SGC 20: Demmitt (St. Louis, Polar Bear), SGC 10: Elberfeld (Washington, Portrait); Uncommon Backs: (63 cards) with Carolina Brights: (1 card) with SGC 50: Lundgren (Kansas City); Cycle: (29 cards, Fourteen 460) with SGC 60: H. Davis (Davis on Front, 460), Dunn, Fiene (Portrait), Ganzel, Lattimore, Lennox, Pfeffer (460), He. Wagner (Bat on Right Shoulder, 460); SGC 50: Abbaticchio (Blue Sleeves, 460), Arellanes, Berger (460), Clymer, Crandall (Portrait, with Cap, 460), Hummel (460), Hunter, Latham (460), Leifield (Batting), Magee (with Bat, 460), Merkle (Throwing, 460), Moeller, O’Brien, D. White (Pitching, 460), Wiltse (Pitching, 460), Wiltse (Portrait, with Cap, 460); SGC 40: Bradley (with Bat, 460), Hofman, Knight (with Bat), Oakes, Schirm; El Principe De Gales: (2 cards) with SGC 50: Freeman; SGC 20: T. Jordan (Portrait); Old Mill: (6 cards) with SGC 60: Overall (Hand Face Level), Schlei (Portrait); SGC 50: Conroy (with Bat), Dubuc, Manning (Pitching); SGC 40: Doyle (Portrait); Polar Bear: (3 cards) with SGC 50: Atz, Jackson; SGC 40: Leach (Bending Over); Sovereign: (21 cards, One 460) with SGC 60: F. Mitchell, Powers, Schaefer (Detroit), Stanage, Wright; SGC 50: Merritt, Murphy (Throwing), Overall (Portrait), Poland, Rhoades (Right Arm Extended), Sheckard (No Glove Showing), Sullivan, L. Tannehill (L. Tannehill on Front), Taylor; SGC 40: Abbott, Donohue, Ford (460), Leach (Portrait), Niles, Paskert, Weimer; Tolstoi: (1 card) with SGC 50: Ha. Smith; Common Backs: (322 cards, Sweet Caporal or Piedmont) with SGC 80: (4 cards) with Davidson, Doolan (Fielding), Quillen, Stovall (Batting); SGC 70: (5 cards) with McGann, Mullin (Throwing), Raymond, Rhodes, Schmidt (Throwing); SGC 60: (60 cards) with Abstein, Barbeau, S. Barry, Becker, Bergen (Catching), Bescher (Hands in Air), Bliss, Butler, Camnitz (Arm at Side), Carrigan, Charles, Clark, Congalton, Crandall (Portrait, No Cap), H. Davis (H. Davis on Front), F. Delehanty, R. Demmitt (New York), Devlin, Devore, Dougherty (Portrait), Fiene (Throwing), Gasper, Gray, Grimshaw, Herzog (Boston, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), D. Howard, D. Hoffman, Lake (New York), Laporte, Maddox, Maloney, McAleese, McBride, McCormick, McElveen, McGlynn, McIntyre, McQuillan (Ball in Hand), Merkle (Portrait), D. Miller, M. Mitchell, Mowrey, Murphy (Batting), Nichols (Batting), O’Leary (Portrait, Sweet Caporal double overprint), Payne, Quinn, Rudolph, Schmidt (Portrait), Seymour (Portrait), Shannon, Sharpe, He. Smith, Snodgrass (Catching), Stahl (Glove Shows), Stahl (No Glove Shows), Starr, Summers, Wilhelm (Hands at Chest, Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), Willett; SGC 50: (112 cards) with Abbaticchio (Brown Sleeves), Alperman, Ames (Hands Above Head), Ames (Portrait), Anderson, Armbruster, Beck, Bell (Pitching Follow Thru), Bescher (Portrait), Blackburne, Bowerman, Bransfield, Brashear, Bridwell (Portrait, No Cap), Bridwell (Portrait, with Cap), Burch (Fielding), Burchell, Burke, Burns, Byrne, Campbell, Carr, Casey, Conroy (Fielding), Cravath, Cross, Dahlen (Brooklyn), J. Delehanty, Dessau, Dineen, Donlin (Fielding), Donlin (Seated), Donlin (with Bat), Dougherty (Arm in Air), Downey (Fielding), Downs, Doyle (Throwing), Dygert, Egan, Ferguson, Fletcher, Fromme, Ganley, Geyer, Gibson, Hahn, Hall, Hallman, Hannifan, Hartsel, Hayden, Herzog (New York), Hoblitzell, Howell (Portrait), Hulswitt, F. Jones (Portrait), T. Jordan (Batting), Killian (Portrait), Kling, Knabe, Knight (Portrait), Konetchy (Glove Near Ground, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), Krause (Portrait), Lake (St. Louis, Ball in Hand), Lake (St. Louis, No Ball in Hand), Lindaman, Livingstone, Lumley, Mattern, McLean, Meyers (Batting), Meyers (Fielding), Meyers (Portrait), McGinley, Milan, Milligan, Moran, Mullin (Portrait), Murray (Batting), Murray (Portrait, Sweet Caporal Factory 42 overprint), Overall (Hands Waist Level), Owen, Pastorius, Pattee, Perring, Pfeister (Throwing), Phelan, Purtell, Randall, Rhoades (Hands at Chest), Ritter, Rucker (Portrait), Rucker (Throwing), Schulte (Front View), Scott, Seymour (Throwing), Sheckard (Glove Showing), Slagle, F. Smith (Chicago, White Cap), Spade, Steinfeldt (Portrait), Stone, J. Sweeney, J. Tannehill, L. Tannehill (Tannehill on Front), Tenney, Thielman, Thomas, Turner, Warhop, D. White (Portrait), Wilson; SGC 40: (117 cards) with Arndt, Ball (Cleveland), Ball (New York), Barger, J. Barry, Batch, Bates, Beaumont, Bergen (Batting), Birmingham, Bradley (Portrait), Brain, G. Brown (Chicago), Burch (Batting), Bush, Camnitz (Arms Folded), Camnitz (Hands Above Head), Cassidy, Chappelle, Clancy, J. Clarke, Cree, Criger, Criss, Dahlen (Boston), Donovan (Portrait), Donovan (Throwing), Dooin, Doolan (Batting), Doolan (Portrait), Dorner, Downey (Batting), Doyle (N.Y., Hands Above Head), Doyle (with Bat), Dunn, Easterly, Elberfeld (New York), Elberfeld (Washington, Fielding), Evans, Ewing, Ferris, Flanagan, Frill, Gilbert (Sweet Caporal Factory 649 overprint), Goode, B. Graham, P. Graham, Hemphill, H. Hinchman, I. Hoffman, Isbell, Jacklitsch, D. Jones, T. Jones, Karger, Killian (Pitching), Kleinow (New York, Catching), Kleinow (New York, with Bat), Konetchy (Glove Above Head), Kroh, Lavender, Liebhardt, Lobert, Lord, Magee (Portrait), Malarkey, Marshall, H. McIntyre (Brooklyn), H. McIntyre (Brooklyn & Chicago), McQuillan (with Bat), Moran, Moriarty, Mullin (with Bat), Nattress, Needham, Oberlin, Oldring (Fielding), O’Leary (Hands on Knees), O’Neil, O’Hara (New York), Parent, Pelty (Horizontal), Pelty (Vertical), Pfeister (Seated), Phelps, Phillippe, Pickering, Powell, Puttman, Reulbach (Glove Showing), Reulbach (No Glove Showing), Ritchey, Rossman, Schaefer (Washington), Schlafly, Schlei (Batting), Schlei (Catching), Schreck, Schulte (Back View), A. Shaw, H. Shaw, Snodgrass (Batting), Spencer, Steinfeldt (with Bat), Stephens, Strang, Street (Catching), Street (Portrait), B. Sweeney, Titus, Unglaub, He. Wagner (Bat on Left Shoulder), J. White, Wilhelm (with Bat), Willetts, Williams, Zimmerman; SGC 30: (20 cards) with Adkins, Bell (Hands Above Head), Durham, Engle, Groom, B. Hinchman, Howell (Hand at Waist), F. Jones (Hands at Hips), Kisinger, Kruger, Leifeld (Pitching), Lundgren (Chicago), R.Manning (Batting), Sweet Caporal 150, Fac 649 overprint), Nicholls (Hands on Knees), Oldring (Batting), Shipke, F. Smith (Chicago, F. Smith on Front), Stovall (Portrait), Wiltse (Portrait, No Cap), I. Young; SGC 20: (2 cards) with Ames (Hands at Chest), Krause (Pitching); SGC 10: (2 cards) with Covaleski, Seymour (Batting)