T206 1909-11

1909-1911 · American Tobacco Company

The most iconic baseball card set — 524 cards across 36 different tobacco advertising backs.

Key Facts

Release: 1909–1911
Manufacturer: American Tobacco Company
Distribution: Inserted in cigarette packs across 16 brands (Piedmont, Sweet Caporal, Sovereign, Polar Bear, Hindu, Cycle, Old Mill, Tolstoi, Drum, Broad Leaf, American Beauty, El Principe de Gales, Lenox, Carolina Brights, Uzit, Ty Cobb)
Card stock: Lithographed cardstock, 1⁷⁄₁₆″ × 2⁵⁄₈″
Printer / Designer: Printed by American Lithographic Co., New York
Series: 150 Subjects · 350 Subjects · 350-460 · 460 Subjects
Total cards: 524

Honus Wagner
The most famous card in the hobby. Withdrawn shortly after production; roughly 60 known examples.
Eddie Plank
A production-issue rarity; well under 100 known. Long considered the second-toughest base subject after Wagner.
Joe Doyle (NY Nat'l)
Rare team-designation variation: "Nat'l" added below name on a small number of cards. Fewer than 25 known.
Sherry Magie (Error)
Last name printed "Magie" instead of "Magee." Corrected mid-run; the error is the desirable variation.
Ray Demmitt (St. Louis · Polar Bear)
Scarce St. Louis team variation found almost exclusively with the Polar Bear back — a celebrated T206 short print.
Bill O'Hara (St. Louis)
Rare St. Louis Nationals variation, also a Polar Bear-back short print — one of the toughest cards in the set.
Ty Cobb (Green Portrait)
One of four Cobb poses; the green-background portrait is the scarcer of the two Cobb portrait variations.
Christy Mathewson (Portrait)
Three Mathewson poses; the portrait is the definitive Giants Hall of Famer card from the set.
Walter Johnson (Portrait)
The Big Train's most iconic early-career portrait.
Cy Young (Portrait)
Three Young poses; the portrait is the most pursued of the three.
Nap Lajoie (Portrait)
Player-manager of the Cleveland Naps and the set's headlining elder statesman.
Tris Speaker
The Grey Eagle — career .345 hitter and the standard-bearer for center-field defense.