T204 Ramly Cigarettes cards of 1909 feature a beautiful black-and-white
portrait of each player encircled in an ornate border with
the player's name, position, and team affiliation printed at the bottom.
The cards, which are embossed and highlighted with gold ink, are extremely condition-sensitive because they are
printed on flimsy paper. The gold borders are also very
susceptible to chipping, as is the case with most gold-bordered cards.
Between the outstanding player selection and the overall beauty of the
issue, higher-grade examples from the set are extremely pricey, making
affordable specimens tough to find.
PSA has only ever graded 23 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204 of Hall of Famer Wee Willie Keeler.
Centering
is just slightly west on the canvas, but looks nice overall. There
is some edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly in the corners. There is creasing throughout the card, as well as some surface abrasions, minor paper loss, and some soiling. Miraculously, as if taking his own advice when it came to hitting, Keeler's face within the portrait area is perfectly placed: where the card's flaws ain't. The reverse looks much cleaner than the front, with some light soiling especially prevalent on the bottom half. Soiling
is not
unusual for these
cards,
where the
embossing can act like a dust magnet.
Attractive Ramlys are among the
most beautiful cards in the hobby, but
the eye appeal of the issue can sometimes suffer in the lower grades.
The scarcity of this issue far outweighs any perceived cosmetic flaws on
this example of the Hall of Famer.