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 13 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with
only six receiving a higher grade than the VG-EX 4 offered here of Washington first baseman Jerry Freeman.
Centering
is slightly east on the canvas, with some minor diamond
cutting which leaves the top left corner just a hair higher than the
right. While some edge wear and chipping is common
with the set's gold
borders, this example doesn't exhibit much of that. If anywhere, you can
see it creeping out in the corners and along the top edge, but the gold has mostly remained dark, bold, and full. The portrait is bright and clean, with the front presenting beautifully overall. The
reverse
is mostly very clean. There are a few spots which show some soiling, namely at the top center, toward the top left, and at the bottom center. 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. This is an extraordinary example seldom seen with this sort of visual appeal.