One of the cool things about baseball cards is that those names you read about from the distant past come to life. This week, our eBay listings are chock full of some terrific T205 tobacco cards from 1911 and the best part is history behind those we’re lucky enough to be offering. There are 30 T205s in all up for bid including Hall of Famers like Tris Speaker, Home Run Baker, Hugh Jennings, Joe Tinker. There’s an Eddie Cicotte, eight years before the Black Sox scandal, a Buck Herzog, an Addie Joss, whose bright career was tragically cut short, a Jack Quinn…even a Lena Blackburne who brought the Delaware River mud to baseball (it’s still being used to break balls in today). These cards vary in grade but all are very pleasing to look at. We always try to carry only cards that you’d be proud to put in your collection and our bidders agree. Some are among the best known examples while others provide a respectable grade while being affordable to most vintage collectors. The Addie Joss card is not an easy one to find with only 88 graded by PSA over the last 20 years. There’s an Irvin Wilhelm, also graded 2.5. It’s an error card that also has a relatively low population. These types of cards are always highly sought after. T205s are some of the most beautiful baseball cards ever created. With their ornate gold borders and cursive signatures on the front and player write-ups on the back, the cards were groundbreaking. They are far more difficult to find than their cousins in the T206 set. PSA has graded just over 28,000 T205s in its history compared to nearly 149,000 T206s. That alone makes them an exceptional buy at this particular point in time but aesthetically, they are also superior.
