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 20 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with
only eight receiving a higher grade than the VG-EX 4 offered here of New York third baseman Art Devlin.
Centering
is north and west on the canvas. There
is some edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly in the corners, but this example is far nicer than many Ramlys we have seen. There is some light soiling along the very bottom edge of the front, but the portrait is bright and clean. The reverse
is brilliantly clean, especially in comparison to other Ramlys we have seen, though it does show that same light soiling along the very bottom edge which appeared on the front, as well as a little near the middle of the left side. 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.