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 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 10 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only five receiving a higher grade than the EX 5 offered here of New York's Fred Merkle.

Centering is really nice on this one. There is some minor edge wear and chipping that is so common with the set's gold borders, particularly in the corners, but most of the gold has remained darker, bolder, and fuller than other Ramly examples we have seen. The portrait is bright and clean. The reverse is generally very clean, with only a few spots of soiling, most notably the bottom corners. 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.