Tag: T206

Can You Find a Scarce T206 For Less Than $5.00 ?

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It turns out this is possible, but only if you’re not too picky about how it looks.  This particular front/back combo has only been graded twice by SGC (one 10 and one 50) and not at all by PSA.  When I first spotted it on ebay, I was excited at the chance to add a Killian Tolstoi to my collection.  It’s a card I’d been hoping to find for a little while.  Obviously, the condition leaves something to be desired, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to rare 100-year-old baseball cards.

The listing didn’t mention the back, and I was hoping that the front scan would scare most people off and they wouldn’t even click on the listing.  Based on the final hammer price of $4.52, it looks like this is exactly what happened.  I probably would have won the auction even if it had been listed properly, but I was happy to save a little bit of money due to the back not being mentioned.  It’s possible that I’m the only collector who would be excited to own a card this “well-loved”.   However, I bet there are some other collectors out there who can see the beauty in it.

It’s fun to have some collecting targets that don’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire.  I’d go broke pretty quick if I tried to chase down all of the highest graded examples of the scarce front/back combos I am looking for.  Being flexible on condition makes it possible for a smaller budget collector to build an impressive collection over time.  Granted, this Killian is below my typical condition preferences.  But, the fact that it is so badly mangled kind of makes me like it more than if it was just your run of the mill “beater”.

Besides the fact that this is a scarce combo, I love it because Ed Killian was a great pitcher.  His two best season were 1905 (23-14 record, 2.27 ERA) and 1907 (25-13 record and an ERA of 1.78).  In 1909 he posted his career-best ERA (1.71) to go with a record of 11-9.

Killian’s T206 Portrait was released in 1910, which was his final season in Major League Baseball.  In 8 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, he went 103-78 with an ERA of 2.38.

T206 Hall of Fame Front/Back Combo Power Rankings: The Elite (Top 10)

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I was talking with a friend last week about the Tris Speaker Drum that ended in Memory Lane recently and the phrase “Top 10 front/back combo” rolled off my tongue in explaining how significant a card it is.  I had a strong feeling that Speaker belonged in the top 10, but I wasn’t exactly sure what the list actually looked like.  So I figured, why not put together a Top Ten list of the most desirable Hall of Fame front/back examples?  I’ve chosen to leave Wagner and Plank off the list because they are coveted for their fronts rather than the combination of their fronts and a rare back.  I’m also leaving the Ty Cobb back off this list as it is debatable whether that card should be classified as a T206.  That is probably a subject for a future article.  Without further ado, here it is (in my humble opinion of course):

#1.  Ty Cobb Red Portrait Broad Leaf 460

The biggest star in the set combined with the scarcest back (not counting Brown Old Mill and Brown Lenox, which were produced by mistake).  There is one copy of this card known in the hobby.  I wrote an article about the incredible collection that this card resides in.  You may read about it here if you are so inclined.

#2.  Ty Cobb Red Portrait Drum

No surprise here.  Cobb’s second most desirable front/back combo is the Drum.  As of this writing, there are three examples known.  Two are graded by PSA and one by SGC.

#3.  Ty Cobb Bat off Shoulder Brown Lenox

Another near impossible Cobb card, this one has been graded twice, once each by PSA and SGC.

#4.  Walter Johnson Hands at Chest Broad Leaf 460

The Big Train’s most desirable cards comes in fourth on the list.  There appear to be two known copies,  both incredibly nice.  The above SGC 60 and a PSA 4.5.  It’s very possible that this is just one card, which has been crossed from the SGC 60 to a PSA 4.5.

#5.  Cy Young Glove Shows Broad Leaf 460

There appears to be only one copy of this card, and it is an absolute beauty.  SGC graded this card above, and PSA has graded a PSA 5.5.  I am guessing this card was purchased in the SGC holder and crossed over to a PSA slab.

#6.  Christy Mathewson Dark Cap Broad Leaf 460

Matty’s most sought after card clocks in a sixth.  Really, I could arranged Matty, Cy, and WaJo in any order, but I think this order is most in line with the prices that each card tends to sell for.  SGC has graded two copies of this combo (both graded “A”) and PSA has not graded any.

#7.  Walter Johnson Hands at Chest Drum

There appear to be two copies of this card graded.  This one graded by SGC and likely crossed to a PSA 4, and another PSA 1.5.

#8.  Christy Mathewson Dark Cap Drum

This combo has not been graded by either SGC or PSA.  It is however, confirmed to exist on T206resource.com.

#9.  Tris Speaker Drum

The first non-Cobb/WaJo/Young/Matty on the list is Tris Speaker’s most desirable front/back combo.  SGC and PSA each show a single entry for this card, and both are graded “1”s.

10.  Ty Cobb Bat off Shoulder Uzit

The fourth Cobb on the list and the only Uzit, this combo barely edged out the honorable mentions below.  This combo is significantly easier to find than any above.  SGC has graded four copies, while PSA has graded six.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Addie Joss Hands at Chest Broad Leaf 460

Mordecai Brown Chicago on Shirt Broad Leaf 460

Nap Lajoie With Bat Brown Lenox

Frank Chance Yellow Portrait Drum

Sam Crawford Batting Drum

Auction Report: Memory Lane Spring 2017

The latest Memory Lane auction concluded on Saturday evening/Sunday morning.  It was absolutely loaded with T206s.  It appears that an entire set was auctioned off, one card at a time.  Many of the cards were in high grade, and the ones that weren’t had scarce backs.  Let’s get right to the recap.

Wagner PSA 2 sells for a cool $600,000
You know it’s a special auction when there’s a Wagner up for sale.  The grade is a bit of a head-scratcher, but the card is a beauty regardless.  Congrats to the new owner!

Plank PSA 4 sells for $76,800
An absolutely beautiful centered copy with a flawless surface.  I love this card and I bet the new owner does as well.

SGC 60 Magie Error sells for $40,800 

Cobb Bat Off Lenox SGC 40 sells for $41,249
A week after the PSA 6 Uzit Cobb sold in REA for $106k, this copy finds a new home as well.  It’s a very strong card for the grade.  One of many absolute monster cards in this auction.

Speaker Drum PSA 1 sells for $26,534
One of the top 10 combos in my humble opinion, this card was in the middle of a spirited bidding war.  When the dust settled, the hammer was a healthy $26k.  In much the same way that the Wagner does not look like a “2”, this card doesn’t look like a “1”.  It’s a beautiful card for the grade.  The rounded corners and creases above his head don’t detract from the overall eye appeal much.

Carolina Brights Mathewson Dark Cap PSA 3 sells for $12,113
This card is an absolute beauty.  The colors are incredible, the surface and back are clean and the centering is solid.

Tinker Bat Off Shoulder Lenox PSA 3.5 sells for $11,011
Another extremely tough card that looks amazing for the grade.

Hindu Johnson Portrait PSA 2 sells for $6,060
Yet another example of a scarce front/back combo in this auction where the eye appeal far exceeded the technical grade.  This card looks like a 4 to me, and it looks like the bidders agreed.

Hindu Lajoie Portrait PSA 2 sells for $5,918
Like the WaJo Hindu, this one looks much nicer than a “2”.  The price was pretty hefty.  I’m surprised that Lajoie went for essentially the same price as the WaJo, especially considering that the WaJo looks like a slightly nicer card in terms of eye appeal.

Autographed Crawford with bat Polar Bear sells for $4,903
This card is an absolute beauty.  The signature is clean and the card looks to be in a clean VGEX.  The Polar Bear back adds to the appeal of this rare specimen.

Broad Leaf 460 Baker SGC 10 sells for $3,110
It doesn’t get much better than a Hall of Famer with a Broad Leaf 460 back.  This card has some obvious issues, and they no doubt kept the price down.  This feels to me like a good deal for the winner.  It’s definitely not every day you get a shot at a BL460 HOFer.

Kelley Broad Leaf 350 PSA 1 sells for $2,147
Kelley is one of the more scarce BL350s, and the price reflected that.  This is a pretty nice looking card for the grade and it could be a long while before another copy comes to market.

Auction Report: REA Spring 2017

Another incredible REA auction is in the books.  As usual, I’ll be focusing on the T206s that were sold, but they were just a tiny percentage of the amazing offerings in the auction.  This auction had a little something for almost everyone.  There were pristine Cobbs and rare backs for the high-rollers, and lower grade rarities for the collector-grade folks.  In this wrap-up, I’ll try to spotlight a selection from both ends of the spectrum.

Cobb Bat Off Shoulder Uzit PSA 6 Sells for $108,000
This card is absolutely stunning.  A high-grade copy of one of the toughest and most sought after rare backs.

Cobb Green Portrait SGC 60 Sells for $9,000
Yet another mid-grade Green Cobb hit the market and did quite well.  This one is a beauty.

Four 150-350 Series Proofs Sell for $7,200 – $8,400

Bates $8,400
Alperman $8,400 
Jacklitsch $7,800
Wagner $7,200

I was a little surprised that the Alperman didn’t sell for more than the other three.  As the only one of the quartet to not feature a name caption, it has much more appeal to me personally.  Apparently the guys who actually have the money to bid on these don’t feel the same.

Magie Error PSA A Sells for $5,400
A nice looking card with a slight trim from top-to-bottom.

Cobb Green Portrait PSA 2 Sells for $5,400
Quite the strong price for this one.  It’s either a case of someone buying the card, rather than the holder, or someone thinking they can remove the tape residue on the back of the card and elevate the grade to a 3.5 or 4.

Bell Lenox SGC 50 Sells for $3,600
A beautiful example, this one sold for about what you’d expect.

Arellanes Broad Leaf 350 SGC 50 Sells for $3,300
This card is amazing.  Love the baby blue background and the back is clean and looks great.

Pelty Horizontal Hindu PSA 5 Sells for $2,700

Stovall with Bat Lenox SGC 30 Sells for $1,920
Another tough Lenox back, this one has great eye appeal for the grade.  The only flaws are the spots of paper loss on the back.  Luckily, they don’t affect any of the text.

Young Portrait El Principe De Gales PSA 3 Sells for $2,280
This is very strong “3” and it sold for a strong price.  Seeing this result makes me wonder what a nice PSA 3 Old Mill or Hindu would fetch at auction.

Dougherty Portrait Hindu SGC 60 Sells for $1,560
Waddell Portrait SGC 40 Sells for $1,320
Walsh Hindu SGC 40 Sells for $1200
Tinker Hands on Knees Hindu SGC 20 Sells for $1,080
I thought these Hindus were a nice value for the new owners.  All are really solid examples with great eye appeal.

Magee with Bat Red Hindu Sells for $1,440
This was the only Red Hindu in the auction, and it’s a beauty.  I personally value cards of guys like Magee who were stars at the time more than a similar card of a player who had a less notable career.  This card seems to have gone for a strong price, and I wonder if his status as a guy who just barely missed the Hall of Fame might have something to do with it.

Brown Chicago on Shirt Piedmont Factory 42 Sells for $840
This was one of my personal favorites in the auction.  It’s a great looking “3” and it’s not every day you can find this pose with a tough back.

T206 Misspelled Names: Sorry Pal, We Got Your Name Wrong!

I’m pleased to bring you another fun guest article from my friend Scott Gross.  Thanks Scott!  Enjoy!

If you’re lucky enough to get a Baseball card, you would like to think the producers would get your name spelled correctly. Well, with T206s, that was not always the case. Of the 524 cards in the set, there are 24 misspelled names. Maybe that isn’t so bad considering that T206s were one of the first, and certainly biggest issues of the day. Also, these were cheap advertising, so getting them into circulation could easily have been more important than 100% correctness. Have to cut them some slack.

The list below was taken from the grand website t206resource.com (as well as Print Group information). I did exclude three names off their list. Two McGraws and LaPorte. In my opinion the gaps between McGraw and Mc Graw, and LaPorte and La Porte are not significant misspellings.

Of course, the most famous misspelling is that of Magie. This mistake was corrected very early on in Print Group 1(to the correct Magee). So early that the Magie card is much rarer, and sought after by many T206 collectors. My first thought when thinking about this article was Magie/Magee was done just because he was the only Print Group 1 card. Figuring that the producers wanted everything done right in this initial printing. This is not correct. In fact, there are eight other misspellings in Group 1.

Now, arguably most of these are not household names. Good, decent players, but maybe not good enough to double check them in production. The one that jumps out at me the most is Brown/Browne. He was about the same level of player as Magee. Both were everyday outfielders for non-pennant winning teams, and had similar stats between 1904-09 (Browne, NY National, 275 BA; Magee, Philadelphia National, 291 BA). So why was Magie corrected and not Brown ? Who knows !!!

Another oddity is the trio of Goode, Livingstone, and Violat. Where the correct names are, in general, more popular spellings. Almost had to go out of their way to be wrong. However, with most others, the different ways of spelling are probably close to even. I wish I had an old phone book (remember those ??!!) to verify that.

The ones I find the most interesting are those who have multiple cards, and yet have both correct and incorrect spellings:

Doolin is misspelled on his Portrait from the 150-350 Series. However, was corrected in his later Bat and Fielding cards. Same with Magee Fielding, and Meyers Portrait. Being misspelled initially, and then corrected.

Then, there are my favorites. The ones where the player’s name was originally correct, yet later poses were changed to incorrect !!!!!

Nicholls hands on knees is correct in his first printing, then incorrect (Nichols), on the subsequent batting pose. The same for the initially correct Willett batting, which was followed by the incorrectly spelled Willetts (throwing). Just couldn’t leave well enough alone. The most bizarre, is Mullen/Mullin. Who goes from correct (Mullin throwing) in Print Group 1, to incorrect (Mullen portrait) in Group 2, then back to correct (Mullin with bat) in Group 3.

Finally, let us not for get good old Harry Lentz, who’s correct name is Sentz. At least the others are recognizable …………….. “Sorry, buddy, we misspelled your name!!!!!”

Written by Scott Gross

George Stone’s Monster 1906 Season

T206 George Stone Old Mill

George Stone came out of nowhere in 1905 as a 28 year-old rookie.  Well, not exactly nowhere.  He spent the entire 1904 season in Milwaukee, dominating the American Association.  It’s hard to believe he stayed in the Minors all year given the stats he was putting up.  He hit .406 with a .558 Slugging Percentage to go with 36 Doubles, 19 Triples, and 7 Home Runs.  Prior the the 1905 season, he had played just 2 games in the Major Leagues, both with the Boston Red Sox in 1903.

In 1905, he played in every single game for the St. Louis Browns.  That in itself is pretty impressive, but more importantly, he played at an extremely high level.  A rundown of his achievements in 1905 is enough to make your head spin.  He led the AL in Plate Appearances (691), Hits (187) and Total Bases (259).  His .296 Batting Average ranked 6th and his .756 On Base Plus Slugging Percentage ranked 4th among American Leaguers.  A rookie in the truest sense of the word, George Stone posted the 4th highest Offensive WAR (4.8) in the AL.

Stone’s T3 Turkey Red Cabinet

Following Stone’s stellar 1905 campaign, expectations were no doubt high for him in 1906.  However, I can’t imagine that anyone expected what came next.

In less Plate Appearances (658 v.s. 691 in 1905) George Stone put up one of the most impressive offensive displays of the Deadball Era.  He led the AL in Batting Average (.358), On Base Percentage (.417), Slugging Percentage (.501) and OPS (.918).

George Stone E92 Nadja Caramel

His 91 Runs Scored were 5th in the AL and his 71 Runs Batted in were good for 6th.  He again led the league in Total Bases. this time with an astounding 291.  His 208 Hits were 2nd only to Lajoie’s 214.  Stone’s 20 triples trailed only Elmer Flick among American Leaguers.  He finished third in the AL in Home Runs with 6, which trailed Harry Davis’ 12 and Charlie Hickman’s 9.

George Stone’s historic 1906 season was worth 8.7 Wins Above Replacement, which ranked 3rd in the AL behind only Nap Lajoie’s 10.0 and Terry Turner’s 9.4.  Take only offensive metrics into consideration, and Stone’s year at the plate looks even better.  His Offensive Wins Above Replacement of 7.9 ranked 1st in the American League.  This time he edged out Lajoie’s 7.6.  Flick was a distant 3rd at 6.2 and Harry Davis and Turner tied for 4th at 5.2.

Stone had another great year with the Browns in 1907.  He hit .320 and put up an OPS of .787.  In 1908 he took a step back, but still posted a solid campaign with a .281 Batting Average and .714 OPS.  He played his final major league game in 1910 at the age of 33.  Stone is one of many Deadball Era stars who had short careers.  He only played 6 season of Major League ball (7 if you count the two games he played in 1903) but he definitely left his mark on the sport.

Today, many T206 collectors look at a George Stone card and think “common”.  But the truth is he was anything but.

Auction Report: Love of the Game Spring Premier Auction 2017

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It’s been a couple weeks since the most recent Love of the Game Auction came to a close.  In the future I’ll try to be a little more prompt with my auction summaries, but better late than never I figure.  As always, Al had a little something for everyone.

Red Hindu John McGraw PSA 3mc sells for $1,560
Two things stood out to me about this McGraw Red Hindu.  First, it has a crazy, somewhat distracting diamond-cut.  Second, it has one of the deepest red backs I’ve ever seen.  The back is just incredible.  I thought this went for a very reasonable price, and I bet the new owner is stoked to own it.

Carolina Brights Bill Abstein SGC 40 sells for $1,599
Continuing the recent upward trend for the higher tier backs, this Abstein achieved a strong hammer price.  Like the McGraw, the back on this one is exquisite.  The card is also very nice for the grade, without any signs of a crease or wrinkle.

Ty Cobb Green Background Portrait SGC 20 sells for $2,160
Green Cobbies continue to be red hot.  This one has solid eye appeal for the grade and sold for a strong price.

Broad Leaf 350 Tris Speaker PSA A sells for $615
I remember seeing the title of this listing and getting really excited.  But, then I saw the card.  I can’t help but feel a little sad when I see a rare and significant front/back combo like this that is so badly mangled.  On the bright side, I’m definitely happy that it survived all these years.

Cycle 460 Cy Young SGC A sells for $510
I thought this card went for a reasonable price.  Cycle 460s are under-appreciated in my opinion, and the premium paid for this one was only about 2x the price of a similar condition common back.

Brown Hindu Nap Lajoie portrait goes for $400
Another rare back with back issues, this one is a bit different than the Speaker above.  The buyer no doubt thought that most of the paper loss/addition was the latter and that the card’s appearance could be much improved by a soak.  I had this thought and was actually in on the bidding early but dropped out without making a serious run at it.  For the condition this one is in, I feel $400 is a strong price that the consignor should be pleased with.

Piedmont Factory 42 Admiral Schlei batting sells for $366
Keeping with the theme of this auction, the back on this card is amazing.  It’s a deep, bold blue, probably the nicest Piedmont 42 back I have ever seen.  The slight mis-cut probably kept the price down because people who prefer PSA know that the card won’t cross over with the MC qualifier.  Still, an incredible card and a nice deal for the buyer.

T206 Donie Bush With Interesting Print Mark – But Only On the Rarest Backs?

High resolution scan of the Broad Leaf 350

Monday 4/17/2017:

Continuing with the recent theme of examining print oddities and errors, here is a Donie Bush with rare Broad Leaf 350 back that has a unique print error.  The area directly to the left of his glove appears to be missing the gray ink for his uniform, and as a result it looks pink to the naked eye.  As of now, this is the only known copy of Bush with a Broad Leaf 350 back, so there aren’t any others to compare this one to.

However, I was chatting with a friend about this card, and he sent me this scan, of a Donie Bush Carolina Brights that he once owned.  Note the the print defect in exactly the same spot.  I had examined a high resolution scan of the Broad Leaf and was convinced that the spot was missing ink, rather than altered in some way.  Often, when you see mark that looks like this, it will have been created by a eraser.  This Carolina Brights scan serves as a nice confirmation that both cards were printed with the pink spot at the factory.

Upon being alerted as to the existence of this Carolina Brights card, I began to scour the internet looking for other examples with the same “pink spot”.  What I found was quite surprising.  So far, I have not found a single copy of Bush with a common back that exhibits the flaw.  No Piedmont, Sweet Caporal, Polar Bear, Old Mill, or Sovereign backs that I found had the “pink spot”.  However, the lone Cycle 350 that I found did have it:

Wednesday 4/19/2017:

After finding the Cycle 350 scan, I spent the next couple days looking for other examples of the “pink spot”.  I posted a thread on net54 asking for scans and reached out to a few friends.  The net54 query paid off immediately when long-time back collector Brian Weisner reached out to me with scans of the Carolina Brights above, and an American Beauty below, which does not have the print flaw.  Brian told me that the “pink spot” appears on 2 of the 5 Donie Bush Carolina Brights that are known to exist.

This American Beauty does not exhibit the “pink spot” print anomaly

At that point, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t find any common backs with the print flaw, but that changed when Pat Romolo joined the search.  Pat is the foremost expert in T206 Print Oddities/Anomalies.  Many of you are probably familiar with Pat’s Piedmont 150 Plate Scratch Project (ironically the thread was started by Steve Birmingham, who is the foremost expert on the printing process(es) used to create T206s) .  If not, you should definitely check it out.

Pat noted that Bush shares the same back profile as George McBride.  McBride has a print anomaly that Pat has been following, which he he has dubbed the “blue flame”.  McBride’s print anomaly has been found on the following backs:

So, theoretically with enough searching we may be able to find the “pink spot” anomaly on these same five backs above.  Later in the afternoon, Pat emailed me with the following scan:

At that point, my theory that the “pink spot” would only be found with the rarest backs was proven incorrect.  I’ll keep my eye out for more copies with this anomaly, and possibly post an update sometime in the future.  As of now, I have not seen a scan of a Piedmont 350 with the “pink spot” but based on the existence of the SC 350/30 above, I imagine there are some out there.

The T206 George Gibson with Ghost Image That Sold Last Weekend

This little gem was sold last weekend via PWCC Auctions.  The auction boasted an impressive array of T206s, and this one was kind of buried among the offerings.  It was listed as “Ghost Image” due to the dark rectangle that appears over the front of the bottom 90% of the card.  When I first saw it, I was pretty sure I knew what the faint lighter image on the on the ghost overprint was, but I needed to verify.  I am not particularly good with Photo Shop, but I thought it might be fun to show the process I used to figure out who the ghost was anyway

I thought it looked like the ghost overprint was upside down, so first I turned the image upside down:

In this particular case, I had a hunch of who the ghost might be right when I first saw the card.  However, there have been plenty of times when I haven’t been so sure when looking at a T206 with a ghost image.  In those cases, the first step in the sleuthing process is to identify any distinguishing marks (or in this case, the spots on the ghost overprint which are lighter than the rest of the ghost).

Once you’ve found some spots to look for, you need to go through other cards that were printed in the same series.  In this case, Gibson is a 150-350 subject and this card has a Piedmont 150 back.  So, if the ghost overprint features another T206 pose, it will be one of the other 155 poses from the Piedmont 150 checklist.  When I am searching for a possible match, I like to use the checklists at T206resource.com and click on the scan links at the right side of the page.  You can scroll through the entire 150-350 Series checklist on this page.

Like I mentioned earlier, I had a hunch right away.  I pulled up this pose, and found an immediate match:

I wish I had the Photo Shop skills of Chris Browne or Erick Summers, but unfortunately this is the best I can do.  If you look closely, you can see that the previously identified lighter spots on Gibson line up perfectly with Eddie Cicotte’s right arm and the creases in his pants.  How this card might have come to exist is a mystery to me.  I suppose the lighter ghost print could have come first, with the printer’s realizing that the sheet was placed upside down and then turning it around and printing the entire card again.  This fun error card sold for $249.83.  I imagine most bidders were not sure what they were looking at, but the winner most likely knew that the ghost was Cicotte.

Does the Huge Price Tag for the T206 Magie Error Make Sense?

This copy sold via Love of the Game Auctions for $15, 340 in 2013

As a T206 back collector, I tend to think about cards in terms of value.  Which backs are over-valued?  Which are under-valued?  Which cards are over-rated, and which are under-appreciated?  My favorite part of collecting this set is searching for value and scarcity, especially when it is hiding in plain sight.

It can be hard to impress T206 collectors.  There are hundreds of specific front/back combos that exist in quantities of less than 10 and are met with a collective yawn from collectors when they hit the market.  If a Cycle 350 Shad Barry SGC 30 goes to auction, it’s likely to sell for less than $100.  If a Demmitt Polar Bear SGC 30 goes to auction, it will probably sell for around $1,000.  PSA and SGC have combined to grade 4 copies of the Barry Cycle 350 and 278 copies of Demmitt Polar Bear.  Pretty crazy when you really look at the numbers.

Obviously the Demmitt, O’Hara, and Magie cards are more highly sought after than a random Cycle 350 with a low population.  The main reason is that many set collectors feel the need to own a Magie, O’Hara and Demmitt for their sets.  However, there are plenty of T206 collectors who are not necessarily attempting to complete the set.  For those people, I really wonder if the massive price tags for these 3 cards makes sense.

PSA has graded 118 copies of the Magie error (which only exists with a Piedmont 150 back).  SGC has graded 62 of them.  So, according to the Pop Reports, there are 180 Magie errors out there.  Of course there have probably been some crossovers, but there are probably some raw copies out there too.

Sold for $1,028 via PWCC Auctions over the weekend

A few days ago, this PSA 4 Sherry Magee portrait with El Principe de Gales back sold for $1,028 via PWCC Auctions.  PSA and SGC have combined to grade only 11 copies of this card.

Sold for $2,022 via Goodwin & Co. Auctions in 2016

Earlier in the year, Goodwin and Co. auctioned off the above Old Mill Magee portrait in an SGC 40 holder.  It sold for $2,022.  PSA and SGC have graded a combined 4 copies of this card.

The Pop Report Numbers for Magee Portrait with Hindu and Sovereign 150 backs are similarly low in comparison to the iconic Magie Error:

The Old Mill above is so rare that it’s almost non-existent, and yet it sold for just 13% of the $15,340 that the PSA 3 Magie pictured at the top of this article went for.  We know that there is more to value than the supply side of the equation, but I can’t help but come to the conclusion that the Magie Error is over-valued.  As long as collectors continue to covet the Magie Error to the extent they have historically, prices will remain high.  With more information available to us via the Pop Reports, it’s possible that prices will adjust over time to be more in line with actual scarcity (or the lack thereof).