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 26 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204 of St. Louis pitcher Harry Howell.
Centering is slightly west on the canvas, with some minor diamond cutting which leaves the top left corner just a hair higher than the right. There
is some edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly in the corners. A surface abrasion runs across Howell's chest, but does not affect his face, which is still bright and clean. The reverse
is mostly clean, save for two red tally marks in the center of the card, explaining the (MK) qualifier in the grade).
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.