By REA

When Robin learned that her grandfather had an extensive baseball card collection, like most people, she wasn’t sure what type of value his collection really had. And like most people, she was delightfully surprised to learn that he had far more than just some run-of-the-mill commons. 

Her grandfather was born in 1898 in a tiny town in south-central Florida. His parents, immigrants from Switzerland, had somehow found their way from Far Rockaway, New York to this most unlikely of new hometowns.

Both former school teachers, they became entrepreneurs and opened a large general merchandise store that they billed as the “first department store” in town in the early 1900s. The store carried everything from ladies hats to victrolas. It also sold a lot of Piedmont cigarettes.

As a boy, Robin’s grandfather would stand outside his parents’ store, looking through the windows to see who was buying cigarettes, and, as the customer came out, say, “Hey, mister, can I have the baseball cards, please?”

A T206 collection was born.

The store that was owned by Robin's great grandparents where her grandfather accumulated much of his T206 collection

While the famed T206 set has always been one of the “Big Three” of iconic card issues within the hobby, it has soared to new heights among collectors in recent years. In the last decade, ten different examples of the T206 Honus Wagner alone have exceeded the $1 million mark, including the example that sold at REA for $.6.6 million in August 2021, a record at the time for any sports card.

What truly separates the T206 set, which was issued between 1909 and 1911 across 524 different cards, are the sixteen different tobacco advertising backs that are available. Old Mill Cigarettes advertisements quickly became a favorite of Robin’s grandfather, and he must have acquired them pretty often, as he ended up with quite a few of them.

Robin’s grandfather died in the late 1970’s, and it seemed for a while that the cards may have been forgotten.

However, sometime in the 1990s, Robin’s parents visited her grandmother. There was a large brick workshop on the property that everyone referred to as “The Barn” where her grandfather had restored antique automobiles.

One day, her father was picking through The Barn's mountain of stuff, which was largely untouched since her grandfather’s death. He found a wonderfully unusual, very old cigar box and opened it to find that it was filled to the brim with T206 cards. There were several other boxes with it, all filled with cards.

The cigar box that contained many of the T206 cards in Robin's grandfather's collection

Among the collection was an assortment of 1909-1911 T206 White Border Southern League cards, all with Old Mill Backs. The family was able to put together two near-complete sets - one that included 46 of the 48 cards in the series and another that included 37 of the 48.

Not only did these relics survive, but many of them remained in inexplicably good condition. Anyone familiar with Florida weather knows how hot and humid the weather can be. Remarkably, these cards, stashed in an outbuilding, were not at all affected by mold, mildew, and bugs that would typically accelerate the aging process of the condition-sensitive cards. 

After learning about the value that these cards held and their storied history within the hobby, Robin decided to consign them with REA. The first offering from her collection will be available as part of the Fall 2023 Catalog Auction with additional installments appearing in the monthly Encore Auctions as well as the Spring 2024 Catalog Auction.

A sampling of the T206 cards that will appear in REA's Fall 2023 Catalog Auction along with some of the early 2024 events

The size of the collection, coupled with the amount of desirable advertising backs and the overall pleasing condition of the majority of cards, is sure to make for a highly-anticipated and much-watched process when the auctions go live. With  so many collectors continuing to build their T206 collections, it should be fun for everyone to keep their eyes on the bidding.

It’s safe to say that Robin’s grandfather kept a close eye on them all these years and that served his family pretty well.