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 16 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with
only seven receiving a higher grade than the VG-EX 4 offered here of Cincinnati third baseman Hans Loebert.
Centering
is east on the canvas. There
is some minor edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly noticeable on the sides here, but most of the gold has remained darker, bolder, and fuller than other Ramly examples we have seen. The underline of RAMLY on the back of the card has bled through slightly to the front, leaving two black streaks running horizontally across Loebert's forehead in what would have otherwise been a nearly perfect portrait area. Other than the centering issue, the
reverse
is mostly clean with only a few spots of soiling, most
notably 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. This is an extraordinary example seldom seen with this sort of visual appeal.