Prior to the
discovery of the "Black Swamp Find" of E98 cards several years ago,
cards from the issue were considered somewhat difficult to obtain, the
condition-sensitive cards typically found in low grades with weak eye
appeal. Visually-pleasing examples that had been "circulated" among
collectors in their year of issue were highly desirable. Though the
Black Swamp Find has dramatically increased the population of high-grade
E98 cards in the hobby, those "circulated" examples remain popular and
highly prized among advanced collectors today, particularly when the
background color is not one known to be a part of the find.
Here's an intriguing E98 of Giants
manager John McGraw, who, despite not playing a lick after 1907, is
shown in a fielding pose on a red background card. Centering is west and slightly south on the canvas, with tremendous corners and edges befitting the grade. Bright white borders help the card's grade, as well, while the reverse is a full list of the 30 cards from this set. A really unique one of the Hall of Famer.
PSA has only ever graded 26 total examples of this E98, with only thirteen receiving a higher grade than the EX-MT+ 6 offered here of Hall of Famer John McGraw.