The T216 People's Tobacco issues are the last of the Louisiana-based tobacco sets. Issued during the period between 1911 and 1916 the cards advertise either Kotton Mino or Virginia Extra brands with Mino and Virginia Extra being the most scarce varieties. The cards are extraordinarily difficult to find today with even higher-grade commons reaching into the four-figure range on a regular basis and Hall of Famers fetching considerably more. While Ty Cobb Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner serve as the issue's anchor there are a number of Hall of Famers in the issue with several variations of many of them accounting for the lengthy period over which the cards were issued. While population reports for the issue are unreliable as they do not accurately reflect either the different variations of the set's cards or the three different backs it is our believe that there are approximately a half dozen graded Mino Chief Benders in existence - and while we understand and appreciate that so many long-time prewar collectors eschew grading in general we feel that the population reports remain an excellent guideline when determining scarcity. Graded AUTHENTIC by PSA this example does exhibit considerable wear in the forn of both creasing edge softness and heavily-rounded corners. Some very light paper loss is visible on the reverse but does not interfere with the Mino Cigarettes back advertisement. Bender's name is obscured by paper loss on the front though it is interesting to note his affiliation with the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League as Bender only spent the 1915 season in Baltimore. We assume that the Authentic grade assessed by PSA is a result of the excessive wear but in this case it is the rarity that makes the card so coveted.