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 9 total examples of this 1909 Ramly T204, with only six receiving a higher grade than the VG 3 offered here of New York pitcher Doc Newton.

Centering is really lovely on this one, maybe just a hair south and east on the canvas. While many Ramlys have an overall darker tone to them, this example is very bright, both in the shade of gold and the clean white background. It is noticeably lighter in color and tone than the others seen so far. There is some light edge wear and chipping that is so common with the set's gold borders, particularly in the corners and along the left edge. Newton's portrait is bright and clean. The reverse is also wonderfully bright and clean, save for one streak of light soiling starting at the top edge, running down through the L in RAMLY, and to the S in TURKISH below. 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 at this - or any - grade.