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.

SGC has only ever graded 17 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only nine receiving a higher grade than the VG 3 offered here of St. Louis manager Jimmy McAleer.

Centering is just a shade south on the canvas, but looks really nice overall. There is some minor edge wear and chipping that is so common with the set's gold borders, but the corners are stronger than many other Ramlys, especially of this grade. Some surface abrasions and snow exist within the portrait area, but nearly all of them stay below McAleer's chin, leaving his face clean and bright. The reverse has no egregious soil spots, but a general overall toning, especially on the top half and near the bottom. 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.