Issued in 1912 through the American Tobacco Company, the brown background cards we call "T207" today are a fascinating group, with varying degrees of rarity among cards in the set.  With even the common cards significantly more difficult to find than their more populous T205 or T206 issues, T207 cards can be found with as many as eight different backs, though not all cards are available with each back.  In fact, the "set" is actually comprised of two distinct groups, with 150 of the 200 known cards available with Recruit and Napoleon backs, and the remaining 50 available with Cycle, Broadleaf, Anonymous (Factory 3 or 25), or Red Cross backs.  The 50 cards with tougher backs were issued later in the 1912 season and are very scarce, but there are a number of extreme rarities in the set - among them the card of pitcher Louis Lowdermilk.

Considered by many to be the key to the issue, the Lowdermilk card has a reputation for being the "Wagner" of the set, as decades' worth of collectors have had been faced with what seemed to be the nearly impossible task of finding one for their set.  Of course, as is the case with many cards, the advent of the internet has brought people closer together and taught us that, while the T207 Lowdermilk is an extremely rare card, it is not an impossible one: SGC has graded 25 examples, and PSA 39. Despite this, the card remains an extreme rarity in comparison with most others in the set, and its legacy has kept it one of the most desirable rarities in 20th Century tobacco collecting, and certainly among the most valuable cards in the issue.

Condition is, of course, a major concern with T207 cards, as the gloss surface is subject to cracking, which reduces the technical grade.  Of the 7 T207 Cycle Lowdermilk cards SGC has assessed, none has graded higher than this, the sole example at the EX/NM level.  In fact, searching for every possible back in SGC's population reports, we can only find a sole anonymous backed example at this grade level, making this one of the two highest-grade Lowdermilk cards SGC has ever assessed, with a single NM example and three more EX-MT ones graded by PSA.  In addition to being a true rarity, the card is a condition rarity as well.

This example is sharp and well-centered, easily in consideration for the finest examples in existence. With very little sign of wear, the Red Cycle reverse clean and bright, this is a fantastic example of one of the most significant rarities of all the mainstream tobacco issues.