1911 T205 Gold Border Complete Set (208 Plus 4 Variations)

Sold For:

$70,500

Year:

1911

Auction:

2007 Spring

Lot #:

281

Category:

Prewar Baseball - 1910s and 1920s Cards

The T205 Gold Borders set is universally recognized as one of the most classic of all tobacco-card issues and includes all the great stars of the era and many rarities. Presented is an exceptionally attractive and very clean complete set of all 208 cards (plus four variations for a total of 212 cards). This set was assembled many years ago, as opposed to having been compiled recently in the modern era. The cards span all grades and include many significant condition highlights; the entire set has tremendous eye-appeal across the board and even the lesser-graded cards are very pleasing and exhibit bright colors and crisp focus. This is a very carefully assembled set put together by an old-time collector who was unusually condition-conscious for his time: few cards have creases, and most cards have been downgraded due solely to normal corner and edge wear. Even among those cards with creases, most creases are minor. We were so impressed with this set that, for the convenience of potential bidders, we have selected a very significant number of cards (far more than normal for a total of ninety) for grading by SGC. While we have tried to select the most important key cards and a selection of the strongest condition cards for professional grading, with few exceptions the ungraded cards remaining in the set maintain the same overall pleasing aesthetics. This is a gorgeous set, rarely offered in complete-set form in such high grade. As anyone who has seen graded T205s can verify, T205s tend to be graded very harshly, and almost all of these cards have an appearance far superior to their assigned grades. In the following condition composite, cards are identified by the numbers provided in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards checklist. SGC Condition Report: Three NM+ 86: #93, 111, and 139. Four NM 84: #35 Clarke (HOF), 51, 146, and 177. Nineteen EX/NM 80: #4, 23 Bresnahan (mouth closed, HOF), 31 Chance (HOF), 54, 62 Evers (HOF), 72, 75, 77, 80a Gray (no stats on back), 84, 89, 97, 98, 120, 147, 160, 190, 191 Tinker (HOF), and 204. Seven EX+ 70: #17 Bender (HOF), 74, 141, 162, 163, 169, and 199 Wheat (HOF). Nineteen EX 60: #7 Baker (HOF), 11, 33 Chase (left ear), 34 Cicotte ("Black Sox"), 36 Cobb (HOF, American Beauty back), 83 Hanford (minor leaguer), 85 Harmon (left ear), 90d Hoblitzell (name correct - no "Cin" after 1908), 92 Huggins (HOF), 96 Johnson (HOF), 102 Kleinow, 109, 124 Mathewson (HOF), 126 McAllister (minor leaguer), 130 McGraw (HOF), 165, 173, 192, and 208 Young (HOF). Twenty-Two VG/EX 50: #38 Collins (mouth open, HOF), 43 Dahlen, 49 Donohue (Donahue), 52a Dougherty (red sock), 56 Dunn (minor leaguer), 64, 71 Frick (minor leaguer), 80b Gray (stats on back), 81 Griffith (HOF), 90b Hoblitzell ("Cin" after 1908), 95 Jennings (HOF), 99 Joss (HOF), 112 Lee (minor leaguer), 129, 145 Nee (minor leaguer), 159, 161 Raymond, 186 Suggs, 193 Turner, 196 Wallace (cap, HOF), 202a Wilhelm ("suffe ed" in 18th line of bio), and 206 Wiltse (right ear). Thirteen VG 40: #12 Batch (minor leaguer), 26 Brown (HOF), 28 Cady (minor leaguer), 39 J. Collins (minor leaguer), 69 Ford (white cap), 78 Graham (Cubs), 79 Grant, 94, 157 Phelan (minor leaguer), 164 Rowan, 179 Speaker (HOF), 197b Wallace (no cap - two lines of 1910 stats), and 198 Walsh (HOF). Two GOOD 30: #123 Marquard (HOF), and 135 Merritt (minor leaguer). One FAIR 20: #55 Duffy (HOF, pencil writing on the back, otherwise Ex). Ungraded Keys: #2 Adkins (minor leaguer, Vg), 9 Barger (full "B," Vg), 10 Barger (part "B," Vg-Ex), 24 Bresnahan (mouth open, Vg), 32a Chase (both ears - gold frame extends, Vg-Ex/Ex), 32b Chase (both ears - gold frame ends, Vg), 37 Collins (mouth closed, Vg), 41a Crandall ("t" not crossed, Ex), 52b Dougherty (white sock, Vg-Ex), 65 Fisher (Vg-Ex), 100 Karger (Vg-Ex), 110b Latham (W.A. Latham on back, Vg-Ex), 114a Leifield (initial "A" on front, Vg), 166 Scanlan (Vg), 174 Shean (Cubs, Fr), 188 Sweeney (Gd-Vg), 194 Vaughn (Vg), 195 Wagner (Vg-Ex), and 201 White (Pirates, Vg). The balance of the cards range from Vg to Vg-Ex/Ex (includes a few Ex or better, and a very few Good). This is a solid mid- to-high-grade T205 set, far nicer than usually seen, including all Hall of Famers and rarities, and with four extra variation cards. Total 212 cards (set of 208 plus 4 variations). Reserve $10,000. Estimate $20,000/$30,000. Additional images are available at http://photos.yahoo.com/reaphotos. SOLD FOR $70,500.00