1909-1911 T206 White Border SGC- and PSA-Graded Near-Complete Set (516/524)

Sold For:

$186,000

Year:

1909

Auction:

2025 Spring

Lot #:

9

Category:

Prewar Baseball Cards (1900-1941)

Addendum (4/14/25, 12:25 PM): Please note the description in the printed catalog is incorrect. There are 104 cards graded VG 3 not 123 as originally listed.

Presented is a near-complete 1909-1911 T206 White Border set (516 of 524), missing only the "Big 4," Bender/portrait, Tinker/bat on shoulder, and the St. Louis variations of Demmitt and O'Hara for completion. There is little need for a formal introduction to the T206 White Border set, the single most important and highly collected issue among all tobacco and all vintage cards. This is an extremely attractive and clean near-complete set of 516 cards. 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. Any T206 set, of course, naturally has a tremendous "break value" and most quality sets are broken up and sold individually. This T206 near-complete set is highlighted by seventy-two Hall of Famers, including four Ty Cobb, three Christy Mathewson, two Walter Johnson, three Cy Young, as well as several rarities, including Elberfeld/port. (Wash.), and, of course, the forty-eight scarce Southern League series cards. The backs include one Factory 42, two American Beauty, three El Principe De Gales, twenty-six Old Mill (including sixteen Southern Leaguers), fifteen Polar Bear, twenty Sovereign, and thirteen Tolstoi. All 516 cards have been graded and encapsulated by SGC (501) or PSA (15). (Please note that there is a mix between old and new SGC holders and in our listing below we are using the 1-10 scale for simplicity.) Included are two EX/NM+ 6.5s, twenty-one EX/NM 6s, twenty-four EX+ 5.5s, 121 EX 5s, fifty-six VG/EX+ 4.5s, 145 VG/EX 4s, twenty-eight VG+ 3.5s, 104 VG 3s, six GOOD+ 2.5s, eight GOOD 2s, and one FAIR 1.5.

SGC Grading Composite: EX/NM+ 6.5 (2 cards): Including Ames/portrait and Leifield/pitching. EX/NM 6 (21 cards): Including Bresnahan/with bat, Chance/portrait yellow background (Sovereign 350), Chase/throwing dark cap, Cobb/bat off shoulder, Huggins/portrait (PSA), Jennings/portrait (Sovereign 350), Johnson/hands at chest (EPDG), Speaker (Sovereign 350), Tinker/hands on knees, Tinker/bat off shoulder, and Waddell/portrait. EX+ 5.5 (24 cards): Including Mathewson/dark cap, C. Smith (SL), Thebo (SL), and Young/glove shows. EX 5 (121 cards): Including Baker, Bastian (SL), Brown/Chicago on shirt, Chase/portrait blue background, Chase/throwing white cap, Crawford/throwing, Dahlen/Brooklyn, Duffy (American Beauty 460), Flick, Gandil, Gray (PSA), Griffith/portrait, B. Hart (SL), Jennings/one hand showing (Polar Bear), Johnson/portrait (PSA), Keeler/with bat (Sovereign 350), Konetchy/glove near ground (Factory 42), Lentz (Old Mill, SL), Marquard/follow-through (Old Mill), McGinnity, McGraw/portrait with cap, Molesworth (Old Mill, SL), Perdue (SL), Shaughnessy (Old Mill, SL), Tinker/portrait, Titus, Wheat, and Willis/throwing. VG/EX+ 4.5 (56 cards): Including Beaumont (PSA), Chase/portrait pink background, Cobb/green, Cobb/bat on shoulder, J. Collins, Foster (Old Mill, SL), Griffith/batting, I. Hoffman (PSA, Old Mill), Lipe (Old Mill, SL), Magee/portrait (PSA), Marquard/hands at thighs, Mathewson/portrait, Mullaney (SL), Myers/fielding (PSA), Turner (PSA), Waddell/throwing, Young/portrait, and Young/bare hand shows. VG/EX 4 (145 cards): Including Ames (PSA), Bender/no trees, Bender/trees (Old Mill), Bresnahan/portrait, Brown/Cubs on shirt, Carey (SL), Chance/batting, Chance/portrait red background, Chesbro, Clarke/portrait, Cobb/red (Old Mill), E. Collins, Crawford/with bat, G. Davis, Donlin/fielding (PSA), Greminger (SL), Guiheen (Old Mill, SL), Hickman (Old Mill, SL), Howard (SL), Hulswitt (PSA), Joss/pitching, Keeler/portrait, Kelley, Lafitte (SL), Lajoie/throwing, Lajoie/portrait, Marquard/portrait, Mathewson/white cap, McCauley (SL), McGraw/portrait no cap, McGraw/glove at hip, Miller (SL), Overall/portrait (PSA), Reagan (SL), Rockenfeld (Old Mill, SL), Wallace, Walsh, Willis/portrait, and Willis/with bat. VG+ 3.5 (28 cards): Including Bay (SL), Coles (Old Mill, SL), Cranston (SL), Jordan (SL), King (Old Mill, SL), Persons (SL), Ryan (SL), Stark (SL), and Violat (Old Mill, SL). VG 3 (104 cards): Including Beckley, Bernhard (SL), Breitenstein (SL), Brown/portrait, Chase/holding trophy, F. Clarke/holding bat, Ellam (SL), Evers/Chicago on shirt (Polar Bear), Fritz (Old Mill, SL), J. Hart (SL), Helm (Old Mill, SL), Huggins/hands at mouth, Jennings/Both hands showing, Joss/portrait, Kiernan (Old Mill, SL), Lajoie/with bat (Tolstoi), McGraw/finger in air, Orth (SL), Paige (SL), Revelle (SL), Seitz (SL), S. Smith (Old Mill, SL), Taylor, Westlake (Old Mill, SL), and White (SL). GOOD+ 2.5 (6 cards): Including Cicotte, Evers/Cubs on shirt, and Evers/portrait. GOOD 2 (8 cards): Including Hooker (SL), Lundgren/Chicago, Manion (PSA, SL), Otey (SL), and Thornton (SL). FAIR 1.5 (1 card): Including Elberfeld/Washington portrait.

This is a set with tremendous eye-appeal, appearing at a glance considerably stronger than suggested by the very respectable and accurate condition composite and individual grades listed above. T206s in Near Mint or higher grades have risen to astounding levels that are unaffordable for most collectors. Impressive cards ranging in grade from Good to Excellent condition, of which this near-set is primarily composed, represent one of the most outstanding values of all vintage cards. This is a beautiful near-complete set of the 1910 era's most classic tobacco-card issues, in an extremely desirable overall grade. Total: 516 cards. The size/weight of this item requires that there will be an additional shipping charge for this lot.