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 10 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with
only four receiving a higher grade than the Good 2 offered here of Boston second baseman Claude Ritchey.
The
centering is slightly east and far south on the canvas. There
is some edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly in the soft, rounded corners. A large crease starts at the top border and runs straight down, ending just left of Ritchey's right ear. The portrait area is generally clean, and his image is nice for the grade. The reverse has some light soiling through most of the vertical center of the card, and a bit more in the top right corner.
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.