RZM Fine Arts and Antiques Inc: Ask the Appraiser

Jon, we found this little card in my father’s old cigar box, while cleaning out his home. To me, it appears too small to be an actual baseball card. It only measures 2-1/2 tall. However, it does have “COBB” printed on it. The back has a cigarette advertisement printed on it. I never saw this before and was unaware my father even had it. Jon, if you can, please tell me exactly what this card is, what it was used for, perhaps a form of advertising and what it may be worth? Or maybe should I just dispose of it? I will tell you that the only reason I didn’t already dispose of it is because of your piece in the newspaper. Reading this article each week got me thinking. So, here it is for your opinion. Thank you for your time.

Gene S. 

River Vale

Gene, please allow me to begin by thanking you for reading this column. It gives me even greater satisfaction to learn that you did not “just dispose of it.” This small baseball card which you possess is known in the trade as a T206 Tobacco card, produced from 1909-1911, from the American Tobacco Company. It was part of a set that featured 524 colorful lithograph baseball players with different tobacco brand ads on the back. Yes, you are correct that they were printed essentially for various tobacco company advertisements. These cards can also be found with many different themes. From animals to flowers. However, it is the baseball themes that are highly sought after by collectors. Your particular T206 depicts Tyrus Raymond Cobb (1886-1961). Nicknamed “the Georgia Peach” who was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. Cobb broke into the majors with a combative attitude, and that lasted for his entire 24-year Major League career, all but two years with the Detroit Tigers. Ty Cobb is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and batted .366 in his career. Please note, Cobb still maintains the highest lifetime average in baseball history. He held the all-time Major League hit record at 4,191 until Pete Rose broke it in 1985. “The Georgia Peach,” as he was nicknamed, also held the all-time Major League stolen base record of 892 until 1977. Let me mention a T206 card of the greatest player of the Deadball era (1900-1920), is quite a find. This is from someone who has the thrill of being exposed to hundreds of these cards each year. There are some cards you just don’t ever get tired of experiencing. There are four versions of your T206 Ty Cobb tobacco card. Your card is the perfect example of a card that has gone from popular to practically royal status among advanced collectors. The more I study the photographs of this card, it just keeps getting better. Your “Portrait Red” card has an amazing clean red background and a surprisingly clean and bright white border. The central graphics on this particular card are close to perfectly centered with excellent print quality.  All important criteria in accessing the value. Oh yes, the value of this little gem. T206 cards are basically graded on a scale of 1 through 10. The higher the numerical designation the higher the value. I would strongly recommend having this card graded by a professional third-party grading service. I can supply you with that information, if you desire. If your particular card was to grade a (5), the value of this card will be $20,000 USD. That’s right, three zeros! If you are fortunate enough to have this card grade even higher, you could actually hit the six digits. Now you can understand why this card must be slabbed and graded by a professional grading service to make it marketable. Gene, you hit this one right out of the park. 

Congratulations!