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
16 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only seven receiving a
higher grade than the VG+ 3.5 offered here of Cincinnati manager Frank C. Bancroft.
Centering is very nice on this one, just a hair east on the canvas. There
is some edge wear and chipping that is so common
with the set's gold
borders, particularly in the corners. There is some snow and some light soiling on the image, but you can still easily make out Bancroft's distinguished portrait. The
reverse is mostly clean, with some minor soiling
apparent near the bottom and right side, 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.