1909-1911 T206 Ty Cobb With Ty Cobb Back (Frank Nagy Example)

Sold For:

$64,625

Year:

1909

Auction:

2008 Spring

Lot #:

234

Category:

Prewar Baseball - T Tobacco Cards

Graded FAIR 20 by SGC. Presented is one of card collecting's most legendary rarities: The T206 Ty Cobb with "Ty Cobb" back. This is one of only approximately twelve known examples. This card was once part of the collection of legendary hobby pioneer Frank Nagy. In the early days of organized collecting, so few Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb back cards were known to exist, and communication was so different (this was before the days of the internet, illustrated auction catalogs, and comprehensive books about cards), that many collectors actually doubted that the card existed at all. The Nagy example, one of the prizes in all of vintage card collecting, was the card that for many put these doubts to rest. In the many years that have followed, a single extraordinary find of five Ty Cobb back cards surfaced and were auctioned by REA in 1997, and a few individual cards have turned up, but the total population of known examples is still only about a dozen. The Nagy Ty Cobb with "Ty Cobb" back is a very pleasing example with evenly rounded corners, bright colors, and perfect registry. A couple small surface chips of paper loss do not affect Cobb's portrait. This flaw naturally affects the technical condition of the card, but the reverse, which in this rare case is at least as important as the front, is particularly outstanding, and easily one of the finest of all known Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb card backs. The reverse is extremely clean, which is ideal for this back rarity. It is also well centered with bold green printing. Exactly how these cards were distributed has always remained one of the great mysteries of the card-collecting world. The T206 set is the premier set of the era and the single most significant and widely collected of all baseball card sets. The T206 Ty Cobb with "Ty Cobb" back card is, of course, actually considerably rarer than the famous Honus Wagner card from the same set (approximately sixty T206 Honus Wagners are known to exist as compared to approximately twelve Ty Cobb with "Ty Cobb" back examples). A strong case can be made that the T206 Ty Cobb with "Ty Cobb" back should be assigned its own catalog number as a "one-card set," but due to its great similarity to the T206 series, this card has always been considered a T206. This is an exceptional example of one of card collecting's most significant rarities, with tremendous eye-appeal, and extraordinary provenance. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $64,625.00