The first series of cards in the T206 set were issued beginning in 1909 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the history of baseball card collecting due to its size and rarity, with cards of over 500 major and minor-league players issued in the set through 1911. It is known informally as the "White Border" set due to the distinctive white borders surrounding the quality color lithographs on each card.

This stunning portrait of Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie in front of a yellow background is centered just slightly north on the canvas, but the nice contrast of the lighter background and Lajoie's dark hair and Cleveland uniform give this example terrific eye appeal. Lots of light creasing creates an almost spider-web look on this card, which could have been very neat if Cleveland's team were still called the Spiders by the time Lajoie got to town. Unfortunately, he was so good, they named the whole team after him, and there isn't much of a connection between Naps and spiderwebs. Some soiling, particularly near the bottom edge, further explains the card's technical grade. The text on the tough Sovereign back is still dark and bold, with just some light soiling near the top of the reverse. Nevertheless, the scarcity of this issue far outweighs any cosmetic flaws on this example.

PSA has only ever graded 15 total examples of this T206 with a Sovereign back, with only twelve receiving a higher grade than the Poor 1 offered here of the portrait of Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie.