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.

There are four different John McGraw cards included in the T206 set (the only person with more is Hal Chase, with five). This version, which depicts McGraw sitting, reclined, in his New York Giants sweater, wearing a cap in front of a red background, is the rarest of his four. The colors remain bold, and McGraw's image is easily identifiable, though some creasing partially affects the legibility of his name at the bottom. Centering is fantastic on this example, though more creasing in the top right quadrant, along with the creasing along the bottom edge, keep the card from grading higher. The green text on the tough Sovereign back is dark and bold. The reverse has some light soiling near the bottom edge, and one large dark spot nearing the top right which does not affect the front, but does also contribute to the card's technical grade. Nevertheless, the scarcity of this issue far outweighs any cosmetic flaws on this example.

PSA has only ever graded 22 total examples of this T206 with a Sovereign back, with only fourteen receiving a higher grade than the Poor 1 offered here of the portrait of Hall of Famer John McGraw with his cap.