Lot # 3104: Circa 1910 T218 Mecca "Champion Athletes and Prize Fighters" Complete Set (153)

Complete set of 153 cards featuring early twentieth-century "Athletes and Prize Fighters" issued with Hassan and Mecca tobacco products. Collectors are well aware of the many baseball sets of the 1910 era, but several very substantial high-quality sets featuring other athletes were also issued by tobacco companies. The largest and most substantial of these sets is the T218 Mecca "Champion Athletes and Prize Fighters" set. The T218 series includes sixty-six boxers and eighty-seven other champion athletes of the era, including golfers, bowlers, billiards champions, and track-and-field stars. This offering consists of 105 Mecca Cigarettes advertising backs and 48 Hassan backs. Condition is 15% Vg-Ex to Ex, 58% Gd to Vg, and 27% Pr to Fr. Two cards have been graded by PSA. Keys: Abe Attell (Fr), Joe Gans (Vg+), Joe Jeannette (Vg), James Jeffries/front pose (Pr), James Jeffries/side pose (rubber stamp on reverse, otherwise Fr), Jack Johnson/front pose (FAIR 1.5 [MK]), Jack Johnson/side pose (POOR 1), Stanley Ketchell (Fr), and Sam Langford (rubber stamp on reverse, otherwise Vg). Compared to baseball cards of the era, this set (which is at least as scarce) represents a particularly outstanding value. This is a very presentable medium- to lower-grade complete set of one of the classic tobacco sport issues from the early twentieth century. Total: 153 cards.