The first series of cards in the T206 set were issued beginning in
1909 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands
owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the
history of baseball card collecting due to its size and rarity, with
cards of over 500 major and minor-league players issued in the set
through 1911. It is known informally as the "White Border" set due to
the
distinctive white borders surrounding the quality color lithographs on
each card.
Zack Wheat was just beginning his Hall of Fame career when the T206
illustrators captured the young player on the fields of
Brooklyn. The gorgeous orange and red sunset steals the show here, with the green grass background providing even more color to the nicely centered canvas. While the corners and soft and rounded and the edges exhibit softness and chipping, as well, the card's grade can be explained by a large crease running horizontally across the width of the card, just above Wheat's hands which hold his bat with a split grip. The Polar Bear back is dark and bold, but does exhibit some snow and light tobacco staining. However, the scarcity of this issue far outweighs any cosmetic flaws on this example.
SGC has only ever graded 29 total examples of this T206 with a Polar Bear back of Hall of Famer Zack Wheat.