In 2007, hobby legend Lionel Carter sold a number of cards from his expansive collection. Among them was his T206 Plank. This is one of my favorite T206s that I don’t own. Beyond the fact that its a T206 Plank, there are a couple things which make this card extra special, in my eyes. Most of the highest profile cards in the hobby quietly change hands behind closed doors. However, if you were a net54baseball.com member in 2012 and 2013, you probably remember reading along as this particular card was purchased by a board member, only to be put back on the market shortly thereafter. For this Plank card, the story of its ownership and how it was acquired adds to its appeal, at least to me. Another endearing aspect of this card is how “well-loved” it is. The vast majority of Mr. Carter’s baseball cards were in very nice shape, and this one obviously stands out like a sore thumb. Including Mr. Carter, there have been only four owners since 1957:
TIMELINE:
1957: Lionel Carter acquires the Plank in a cigar box full of cigarette cards from a Charles Bray auction.
In a telephone conversation recorded in 2008, Mr. Carter recalled his first thoughts when discovering the Plank among the other cards in the cigar box:
“I bought it in a box of cigarette cards for $5. I was quite young at the time, probably going to high school. I took it up to my room and dumped them out. And I was going through them, and I said, “Well what’s this crappy card doing in here?” And I was going to throw it out, but I said, “I’ll keep it until I find a better one. But I never did find a better one.”
Aug. 27, 2007: Lionel Carter’s T206 Eddie Plank comes to market for the first time. Sold by Legendary Auctions for $16,474.
The new owner reached out to Mr. Carter to ask him a few questions about the card. In a 2008 letter written to the owner, Mr. Carter wrote:
As for Mr. Plank, I purchased him in Charles Bray sale of 440 lots in the Card Collector’s Bulletin of May 10, 1957 listed as a cigar box full of baseball cigarette cards for $5.00! Figured I had nothing to lose and bid $5.00 and was surprised to get them. All fair or good condition except Plank. Nearly threw him away. Glad he has a nice home!
March 28, 2012: In a private transaction, the buyer of the Plank in the Legendary auction sells it for $29,000.
The winning bidder in the Legendary Auction was approached by a fellow member of the net54baseball.com forum, and a deal was struck. However, it wasn’t long before the new owner was on the hunt for another high profile card. In May of 2012, he posted that he was looking for a 1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie and that he was willing to trade the Plank.
August 2013: In a private transaction, Plank is traded to collector Rob Dewolf for a 1933 Goudey Lajoie in an SGC 40/3 holder. The Plank has remained in Dewolf’s possession since then.
This has to be one of the biggest trades in the history of the hobby, but it wasn’t easy. In April 2013, Dewolf reached out the owner of the Plank about a possible trade, but the two parties didn’t gain any traction right away. Talks stalled in April only to be re-opened in August. The owner of the Plank lived in Canada, which added an extra wrinkle to the negotiations. The owner of the Plank didn’t want to pay for shipping and insurance on the Plank and customs fees for the Lajoie, so they had to come up with a creative solution. In the end, a straight-up swap of the two iconic cards was agreed to when Rob commissioned a trusted third party to travel to the border with the Lajoie and complete the trade for him.
Unfortunately for us, there’s no way to know the history of this card prior to its arrival in Mr. Carter’s collection. If it could talk, I’m sure it would have some tales to tell. I can only imagine how it came to look the way it does. And, being in that condition, I’m amazed it survived all these years. Back when tobacco cards had no monetary value, I would think a severely worn card like this would find its way into the trash more often than not. Heck, even Lionel Carter considered throwing it out.
-Thanks to t206collector.com for the excerpts from both the written letter and telephone conversation