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 11 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only six receiving a higher grade than the VG 3 offered here of Athletics catcher Ira Thomas.

The centering is north and slightly east on the canvas. 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 left edge. The gold on this example is noticeably brighter than many other Ramlys we have seen, which almost gives this portrait of Thomas the feeling of European royalty. There is some creasing in the bottom right corner, and some light soiling within the portrait area, but Thomas' image remains strong and regal. The reverse is beautifully clean, with only some light soiling along the very bottom 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. The scarcity of this issue far outweighs any perceived cosmetic flaws on this example.