Lot # 463: 1910 T209 Contentnea Cigarettes "Photo Series" Partial Set (117/224) Including 96 SGC- and PSA-Graded Cards

Presented is an incredible collection of 117 different 1910 T209 Contentnea "Photo Series" Tobacco cards. Ninety-six cards have been professionally graded and encapsulated by SGC (91) and PSA (5), leaving just 21 cards unencapsulated. This is an extremely noteworthy assembly as it is only the fifth time in the past 21 years that we have offered a substantial group of cards from this set. (Please note B. E. Thompson dressed as Uncle Sam, one of the most fascinating and unusual cards in all prewar card collecting, is being sold individually in this auction.) We have been privileged to offer near-complete sets on behalf of the estates of legendary collectors Joe Pelaez and Paul Pollard in past years, but typically, we will find only one card or a few cards in an old-time or type-card collection. This group of 117 different cards (representing 52% of a complete set) is extremely substantial and far more cards than normally encountered at one time! The T209 "Photo Series" set is composed of 224 different players from the Virginia League, Carolina Association, and Eastern League. T209 Contentnea "Photo Series" are one of the rarest and (in large part because of their rarity) most overlooked of all tobacco-card issues. Although there are no Hall of Famers in this set, there are numerous extreme rarities and scarcer cards, some of which are included here. T209 Contentnea "Photo Series" Tobacco cards are among a small selection of elite sets that have long captured the imagination of many of the most legendary collectors, from the earliest days of serious collecting, perhaps more so in years past than even in recent times. The reason many great early collectors prized these cards so highly is twofold: 1) These cards could not (and cannot) simply be purchased in set form. They have to be collected. They are a challenge. 2) Ultimately, cards are about the players that are featured. Many of the players in T209 "Photo Series" are featured in few or no other sets. These characteristics make the real-photo T209 Contentnea set especially significant to the game of baseball and to the world of baseball cards, and especially appealing to the most sophisticated collectors. T209 cards also have a very distinctive design with striking player poses unique to this set.

SGC Grading Composite: EX 60 (6 cards): Bentley, Brent (EX 5), Busch (PSA EX 5), Callahan, Coutts, and Malcolm (EX 5). VG/EX+ 55 (3 cards): Farmer, Luyster, and Redfern (VG/EX+ 4.5). VG/EX 50 (10 cards): E. Doak, King (VG/EX 4), McFarland (VG/EX 4), Merchant (VG/EX 4), Morgan (PSA VG-EX 4 [MC]), Newton (VG/EX 4), Novak, Pritchard, Schumaker, and Shaw. VG+ 45 (3 cards): Bigbie/Raleigh, Foltz, and Garman. VG 40 (28 cards): Beatty, Bigbie/Richmond (VG 3), Clark (VG 3), Dailey, C. Doak, Dobson, Ebinger, Flowers, Forque, Gillespie, Hawkins, Hoffman, Hudson (VG 3), A. Jackson (VG 3), W. Jackson, Lavoia, Martin, McFarlin, McHugh, Morrissey, Mullany (VG 3), Painter, Phealean (error, should be Phelan, PSA VG 3), Phoenix (VG 3), Smith (VG 3), Waters (VG 3), Williams, and Willis (VG 3). GOOD+ 35 (1 card): Dobard (GOOD+ 2.5). GOOD 30 (10 cards): Brandon, Clap (GOOD 2), Cooper, Galvin, Gastmeyer, Ridgeway (GOOD 2), Spratt (PSA GOOD 2), Walsh, Webb, and Wingo (GOOD 2). FAIR 20 (12 cards): Bausewein, Blackstone (FAIR 1.5), Boyle (GOOD 2), Fulton (FAIR 1.5), Jenkins, Jobson (FAIR 1.5), Prim, Rickert, Sharp, Walters, Waymack, and Woolums (FAIR 1.5). POOR 10 (18 cards): Bourquin, Derrck, Duvie, Eldridge, Ferrell, Hannifen, Kelley, Lane, Lucia, Mayberry, McGeehan, Presley & Pritchard, Reggy, Schmidt, Stouch, Swindell, Vickery, and Workman (PSA POOR 1). Authentic (5 cards): Corbett, Fisher, S. Griffin, Kunkle, and Loval. The following 21 cards remain unencapsulated and grade Poor overall, with a couple Pr-Fr and one Gd: Abercrombie, Averett, Beusse, Jack Bonner, Joseph Banner (error, should be Bonner), Byrd, Gates, H. Griffin, Hobbs, Hooker, Keating, Kelly, A. McCarthy, Midkiff, Miller, Roth, Salve, Thompson, Toner (trimmed), Vail, and Wallace.

The notable size, scope, and condition of the offered collection are equally as impressive. The T209 Contentnea "Photo Series" features players in a variety of poses, ranging from detailed ballpark scenes to formal studio portraits, and the 117 cards offered here contain a nice mixture of these various poses. As noted earlier, there are a number of extremely difficult individual cards that make completing this set virtually impossible. However, certain teams are naturally more difficult to find and therefore command a premium from collectors familiar with the intricacies of this set. This collection contains 36 cards from the top six most difficult teams, including (in order of difficulty) Portsmouth (5), Wilson (5), Goldsboro (9), Anderson (5), Danville (5), and Rocky Mount (7). The condition of these cards is also far superior to what is commonly found in T209 Contentnea cards, which tend to grade Poor to Fair or only qualify for "Authentic." A large percentage of the SGC-graded population grades Fair or lower, making the 61 cards graded Good or higher truly outstanding condition specimens for this tough set. This is an extremely rare offering of 117 cards from the T209 Contentnea "Photo Series," one of the rarest and most fascinating of all tobacco-card issues, which would provide an incredible foundation for the assembly of a larger collection or complete set or supplement even the most advanced prewar-card collection. Total: 117 cards. The size/weight of this item requires that there will be an additional shipping charge for this lot.