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.

PSA has only ever graded 20 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only nine receiving a higher grade than the VG-EX 4 offered here of Boston third baseman Bill Sweeney.

The centering is just a hair east on the canvas, but very nice overall. There is some very light edge wear and chipping that is so common with the set's gold borders, particularly in the corners and along the right edge. However, the gold is noticeably darker in most spots on this card than most other Ramlys, almost as if it got an extra layer during the printing process. The result is a gorgeous contrast against the white background and the brilliantly clean portrait of Sweeney. The reverse has some general soiling along the left side, with one small but prominent spot near the right edge. 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.