Gorgeous example of one of the key cards from a scarce caramel issue, the E105 Mello Mint Gum series. Issued in 1910 by the Texas Gum Company, the E105 series was a 50-card set that shares its checklist with the E92 series of cards, with an attractive, green ad on the reverse. Printed on unusually thin paper stock, it is theorized that many of the cards were folded vertically so that they could be inserted into the gum packs.  Many of the surviving examples are found with horizontal creases down the center.  The cards are particularly scarce today, and are quite a condition rarity as well. This example has long resided in the collection of a Southern California collector who had fallen out of the hobby, each of his cards ungraded.

The more rare of two Wagner poses included in the E105 issue, the "throwing" version has just six examples graded by PSA, including this freshly-submitted specimen, consigned from a small but high-quality collection of previously ungraded cards.  One of the finest Mello-Mint cards we have seen, this is a particularly scarce card, with PSA having graded just five prior to our submission of this card, none higher than VG 3. We were surprised to learn of the GOOD+ grade assigned by PSA, as the card has all the attributes of an EX or EX+ card, including bold color and registration, square but lightly-worn corners, and a clean front and back. While we still struggle to identify the fatal flaw, on the card front, in the area near the top-right corner, is a very faint wrinkle, visible upon close examination.  That flaw aside, the card is wonderful, a high-end example of a scarce card, and a reinforcement of the old adage "Buy the card, not the holder."

A true hobby rarity, one of just six examples graded and only the second example we can find to have come to market in the last 13 years.  We also feel confident in our assessment that, despite the technical grade, this is, far and away, the finest graded example in the hobby.  Simply an incredible card.