It’s one of the most widely-collected sets of any era. The legendary T206 Set. Produced in the early twentieth century, the T206 set includes the single most famous card in the hobby, one recognized even by non-collectors.
While a lot of cards are easily acquired, the release has some extremely scarce alternatives that are led by the nearly-mythical Honus Wagner card – 1909 t206 Honus Wagner.
T206 Backs
The best method of knowing which set a card is from is by looking at the back
Among T206 White Border Baseball cards, the back style brings just an advertisement, and there are sixteen different tobacco brand names that provided them.
Not all cards are found with all the backs, and there are even different variations among the various brands themselves that push the number of overall back designs to around 40 alternatives
Without question, the Ty Cobb back is the rarest and it was thought that less than 20 existed till a brand-new find called The Fortunate 7 discovered 7 more examples.
Piedmont
Sweet Caporal
Old Mill
Polar Bear
Sovereign
El Principe De Gales
American Beauty
Cycle
Tolstoi
Hindu
Broad Leaf
Carolina Brights
Lenox
Drum
Uzit
Ty Cobb
T206 Checklist
In all, there are more than 2 thousand various front/back mixes in the T206 White Border Baseball set, which makes putting together a true master set to be a nearly difficult job without a substantial quantity of cash and a lot more pastime connections
For instance, Ty Cobb has 4 different images, and Hal Chase has five. Numerous players are revealed on two various teams due to trades and there are rather a few misspelled names. Southern League players are rather tougher to discover in T206 White Border Baseball because they were just printed in 1909 and 1910.
Noted are the Hall of Famers in the set
Ed Abbaticchio – Pittsburgh Pirates
Fred Abbott – Toledo Mud Hens
Bill Abstein – Pittsburgh Pirates
Doc Adkins – Baltimore Orioles
Whitey Alperman – Brooklyn Superbas
Red Ames – New York Giants
John Anderson – Providence Grays
Frank Arellanes – Boston Red Sox
Harry Armbruster – St. Paul Saints
Harry Arndt – Providence Grays
Jake Atz – Chicago White Sox
Home Run Baker – Philadelphia Athletics (HOF)
Neal Ball – New York Highlanders
Jap Barbeau – St. Louis Cardinals
Cy Barger – Rochester Broncos
Jack Barry – Philadelphia Athletics
Shad Barry – Milwaukee Brewers
Jack Bastian – San Antonio Bronchos
Emil Batch – Rochester Broncos
Johnny Bates – Boston Rustlers
Harry Bay – Nashville Volunteers
Ginger Beaumont – Boston Rustlers
Fred Beck – Boston Rustlers
Beals Becker – Boston Rustlers
Jake Beckley – Kansas City Blues (HOF)
George Bell – Brooklyn Superbas
Chief Bender – Philadelphia Athletics (HOF)
Bill Bergen – Brooklyn Superbas
Heinie Berger – Cleveland Naps
Bill Bernhard – Nashville Volunteers
Bob Bescher – Cincinnati Reds
Joe Birmingham – Cleveland Naps
Lena Blackburne – Providence Grays
Jack Bliss – St. Louis Cardinals
Frank Bowerman – Boston Rustlers
Bill Bradley – Cleveland Naps
Dave Brain – Buffalo Bisons
Kitty Bransfield – Philadelphia Phillies
Roy Brashear – Kansas City Blues
Ted Breitenstein – New Orleans Pelicans
Roger Bresnahan – St. Louis Cardinals (HOF)
Al Bridwell – New York Giants
George Browne – Chicago Cubs
Mordecai Brown – Chicago Cubs (HOF)
Al Burch – Brooklyn Superbas
Fred Burchell – Buffalo Bisons
Jimmy Burke – Indianapolis Indians
Bill Burns – Chicago White Sox
Donie Bush – Detroit Tigers
John Butler – Rochester Broncos
Bobby Byrne – St. Louis Cardinals
Howie Camnitz – Pittsburgh Pirates
Billy Campbell – Cincinnati Reds
Scoops Carey – Memphis Turtles
Charley Carr – Indianapolis Indians
Bill Carrigan – Boston Red Sox
Doc Casey – Montreal Royals
Peter Cassidy – Baltimore Orioles
Frank Chance – Chicago Cubs (HOF)
Bill Chappelle – Rochester Broncos
Chappie Charles – St. Louis Cardinals
Hal Chase – New York Highlanders
Jack Chesbro – New York Highlanders (HOF)
Eddie Cicotte – Boston Red Sox
Bill Clancy – Buffalo Bisons
Josh Clarke – Columbus Senators
Fred Clarke – Pittsburgh Pirates (HOF)
- J. Clarke – Cleveland Naps
Bill Clymer – Columbus Senators
Ty Cobb – Detroit Tigers (HOF)
Cad Coles – Augusta Tourists
Eddie Collins – Philadelphia Athletics (HOF)
Jimmy Collins – Minneapolis Millers (HOF)
Bunk Congalton – Columbus Senators
Wid Conroy – Washington Senators
Harry Coveleski – Philadelphia Phillies
Doc Crandall – New York Giants
Bill Cranston – Memphis Turtles
Gavvy Cravath – Minneapolis Millers
Sam Crawford – Detroit Tigers (HOF)
Birdie Cree – New York Highlanders
Lou Criger – St. Louis Browns
Dode Criss – St. Louis Browns
Monte Cross – Indianapolis Indians
Bill Dahlen – Boston Doves
Paul Davidson – Indianapolis Indians
George Davis – Chicago White Sox (HOF)
Harry Davis – Philadelphia Athletics
Frank Delehanty – Louisville Colonels
Jim Delehanty – Washington Senators
Ray Demmitt – New York Highlanders
Rube Dessau – Baltimore Orioles
Art Devlin – New York Giants
Josh Devore – New York Giants
Bill Dinneen – St. Louis Browns
Mike Donlin – New York Giants
Jiggs Donahue – Chicago White Sox
Wild Bill Donovan – Detroit Tigers
Red Dooin – Philadelphia Phillies
Mickey Doolan – Philadelphia Phillies
Gus Dorner – Kansas City Blues
Patsy Dougherty – Chicago White Sox
Tom Downey – Cincinnati Reds
Jerry Downs – Minneapolis Millers
Joe Doyle – New York Highlanders
Larry Doyle – New York Giants
Jean Dubuc – Cincinnati Reds
Hugh Duffy – Chicago White Sox (HOF)
Jack Dunn – Baltimore Orioles
Joe Dunn – Brooklyn Superbas
Bull Durham – New York Giants
Jimmy Dygert – Philadelphia Athletics
Ted Easterly – Cleveland Naps
Dick Egan – Cincinnati Reds
Kid Elberfeld – New York Highlanders
Roy Ellam – Nashville Volunteers
Clyde Engle – New York Highlanders
Steve Evans – St. Louis Cardinals
Johnny Evers – Chicago Cubs (HOF)
Bob Ewing – Cincinnati Reds
George Ferguson – Boston Rustlers
Hobe Ferris – St. Louis Browns
Lou Fiene – Chicago White Sox
Steamer Flanagan – Buffalo Bisons
Art Fletcher – New York Giants
Elmer Flick – Cleveland Naps (HOF)
Russ Ford – New York Highlanders
Ed Foster – Charleston Seagulls
Jerry Freeman – Toledo Mud Hens
John Frill – New York Highlanders
Charlie Fritz – New Orleans Pelicans
Art Fromme – Cincinnati Reds
Chick Gandil – Chicago White Sox
Bob Ganley – Washington Senators
John Ganzel – Rochester Broncos
Harry Gaspar – Cincinnati Reds
Rube Geyer – St. Louis Cardinals
George Gibson – Pittsburgh Pirates
Billy Gilbert – St. Louis Cardinals
Wilbur Good – Cleveland Naps
Bill Graham – St. Louis Browns
Peaches Graham – Boston Rustlers
Dolly Gray – Washington Senators
Ed Greminger – Montgomery Climbers
Clark Griffith – Cincinnati Reds (HOF)
Moose Grimshaw – Toronto Maple Leafs
Bob Groom – Washington Senators
Tom Guiheen – Portsmouth Truckers
Ed Hahn – Chicago White Sox
Bob Hall – Baltimore Orioles
Bill Hallman – Kansas City Blues
Jack Hannifin – Jersey City Skeeters
Bill Hart – Little Rock Travelers
Jimmy Hart – Montgomery Climbers
Topsy Hartsel – Philadelphia Athletics
Jack Hayden – Indianapolis Indians
- Ross Helm – Columbus Senators
Charlie Hemphill – New York Highlanders
Buck Herzog – Boston Rustlers
Gordon Hickman – Mobile Sea Gulls
Bill Hinchman – Cleveland Naps
Harry Hinchman – Toledo Mud Hens
Dick Hoblitzell – Cincinnati Reds
Danny Hoffman – St. Louis Browns
Izzy Hoffman – Providence Grays
Solly Hofman – Chicago Cubs
Buck Hooker – Lynchburg Shoemakers
Del Howard – Chicago Cubs
Ernie Howard – Savannah Indians
Harry Howell – St. Louis Browns
Miller Huggins – Cincinnati Reds (HOF)
Rudy Hulswitt – St. Louis Cardinals
John Hummel – Brooklyn Superbas
George Hunter – Brooklyn Superbas
Frank Isbell – Chicago White Sox
Fred Jacklitsch – Philadelphia Phillies
Jimmy Jackson – Baltimore Orioles
Hughie Jennings – Detroit Tigers (HOF)
Walter Johnson – Washington Senators (HOF)
Fielder Jones – Chicago White Sox
Davy Jones – Detroit Tigers
Tom Jones – St. Louis Browns
Dutch Jordan – Atlanta Crackers
Tim Jordan – Brooklyn Superbas
Addie Joss – Cleveland Naps (HOF)
Ed Karger – Cincinnati Reds
Willie Keeler – New York Highlanders (HOF)
Joe Kelley – Toronto Maple Leafs (HOF)
J.F. Kiernan – Columbia Gamecocks
Ed Killian – Detroit Tigers
Frank King – Danville Red Sox
Rube Kisinger – Buffalo Bisons
Red Kleinow – Boston Red Sox
Johnny Kling – Chicago Cubs
Otto Knabe – Philadelphia Phillies
John Knight – New York Highlanders
Ed Konetchy – St. Louis Cardinals
Harry Krause – Philadelphia Athletics
Rube Kroh – Chicago Cubs
Otto Krueger – Columbus Senators
James Lafitte – Macon Peaches
Nap Lajoie – Cleveland Naps (HOF)
Joe Lake – New York Highlanders
Frank LaPorte – New York Highlanders
Arlie Latham – New York Giants
Bill Lattimore – Toledo Mud Hens
Jimmy Lavender – Providence Grays
Tommy Leach – Pittsburgh Pirates
Lefty Leifield – Pittsburgh Pirates
Ed Lennox – Brooklyn Superbas
Harry Sentz – Little Rock Travelers
Glenn Liebhardt – Cleveland Naps
Vive Lindaman – Boston Rustlers
Perry Lipe – Richmond Colts
Paddy Livingston – Philadelphia Athletics
Hans Lobert – Cincinnati Reds
Harry Lord – Boston Red Sox
Harry Lumley – Brooklyn Superbas
Carl Lundgren – Chicago Cubs
Nick Maddox – Pittsburgh Pirates
Sherry Magee – Philadelphia Phillies
Sherry Magee – Philadelphia Phillies
Bill Malarkey – Buffalo Bisons
Billy Maloney – Rochester Broncos
George Manion – Columbia Gamecocks
Rube Manning – New York Highlanders
Rube Marquard – New York Giants (HOF)
Doc Marshall – Brooklyn Superbas
Christy Mathewson – New York Giants (HOF)
Al Mattern – Boston Rustlers
John McAleese – St. Louis Browns
George McBride – Washington Senators
Pat McCauley – Portsmouth Truckers
Moose McCormick – New York Giants
Pryor McElveen – Brooklyn Superbas
Dan McGann – Milwaukee Brewers
Jim McGinley – Toronto Maple Leafs
Joe McGinnity – Newark Indians (HOF)
Stoney McGlynn – Milwaukee Brewers
John McGraw – New York Giants (HOF)
Harry McIntyre – Brooklyn Superbas
Matty McIntyre – Detroit Tigers
Larry McLean – Cincinnati Reds
George McQuillan – Philadelphia Phillies
Fred Merkle – New York Giants
George Merritt – Jersey City Skeeters
Chief Meyers – New York Giants
Clyde Milan – Washington Senators
Dots Miller – Pittsburgh Pirates
Molly Miller – Dallas Giants
Bill Milligan – Jersey City Skeeters
Fred Mitchell – Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Mitchell – Cincinnati Reds
Dan Moeller – Jersey City Skeeters
Carlton Molesworth – Birmingham Barons
Herbie Moran – Providence Grays
Pat Moran – Chicago Cubs
George Moriarty – Detroit Tigers
Mike Mowrey – Cincinnati Reds
Dom Mullaney – Jacksonville Jays
George Mullin – Detroit Tigers
Danny Murphy – Philadelphia Athletics
Red Murray – New York Giants
Billy Nattress – Buffalo Bisons
Tom Needham – Chicago Cubs
Simon Nicholls – Philadelphia Athletics
Harry Niles – Boston Red Sox
Rebel Oakes – Cincinnati Reds
Frank Oberlin – Minneapolis Millers
Peter O’Brien – St. Paul Saints
Bill O’Hara – New York Giants
Rube Oldring – Philadelphia Athletics
Charley O’Leary – Detroit Tigers
William O’Neal – Minneapolis Millers
Al Orth – Lynchburg Shoemakers
William Otey – Norfolk Tars
Orval Overall – Chicago Cubs
Frank Owen – Chicago White Sox
Pat Paige – Charleston Seagulls
Freddy Parent – Chicago White Sox
Dode Paskert – Cincinnati Reds
Jim Pastorius – Brooklyn Superbas
Harry Pattee – Brooklyn Superbas
Fred Payne – Chicago White Sox
Barney Pelty – St. Louis Browns
Hub Perdue – Nashville Volunteers
George Perring – Cleveland Naps
Arch Persons – Montgomery Climbers
Francis Pfeffer – Chicago Cubs
Jake Pfiester – Chicago Cubs
Jimmy Phelan – Providence Grays
Ed Phelps – St. Louis Cardinals
Deacon Phillippe – Pittsburgh Pirates
Ollie Pickering – Minneapolis Millers
Eddie Plank – Philadelphia Athletics (HOF)
Phil Poland – Baltimore Orioles
Jack Powell – St. Louis Browns
Mike Powers – Philadelphia Athletics
Billy Purtell – Chicago White Sox
Ambrose Puttmann – Louisville Colonels
Lee Quillen – Minneapolis Millers
Jack Quinn – New York Highlanders
Newt Randall – Milwaukee Brewers
Bugs Raymond – New York Giants
Ed Reagan – New Orleans Pelicans
Ed Reulbach – Chicago Cubs
Dutch Revelle – Richmond Colts
Bob Rhoads – Cleveland Naps
Charlie Rhodes – St. Louis Cardinals
Claude Ritchey – Boston Doves
Lew Ritter – Kansas City Blues
Ike Rockenfield – Montgomery Climbers
Claude Rossman – Detroit Tigers
Nap Rucker – Brooklyn Superbas
Dick Rudolph – Toronto Maple Leafs
Ray Ryan – Roanoke Tigers
Germany Schaefer – Detroit Tigers
George Schirm – Buffalo Bisons
Larry Schlafly – Newark Indians
Admiral Schlei – New York Giants
Boss Schmidt – Detroit Tigers
Ossee Schreckengost – Columbus Senators
Frank Schulte – Chicago Cubs
Jim Scott – Chicago White Sox
Charles Seitz – Norfolk Tars
Cy Seymour – New York Giants
Spike Shannon – Kansas City Blues
Bud Sharpe – Newark Indians
Shag Shaughnessy – Roanoke Tigers
Al Shaw – St. Louis Cardinals
Hunky Shaw – Providence Grays
Jimmy Sheckard – Chicago Cubs
Bill Shipke – Washington Senators
Jimmy Slagle – Baltimore Orioles
Carlos Smith – Shreveport Pirates
Frank Smith – Chicago White Sox
Happy Smith – Brooklyn Superbas
Heinie Smith – Buffalo Bisons
Sid Smith – Atlanta Crackers
Fred Snodgrass – New York Giants
Bob Spade – Cincinnati Reds
Tris Speaker – Boston Red Sox (HOF)
Tubby Spencer – Boston Red Sox
Jake Stahl – Boston Red Sox
Oscar Stanage – Detroit Tigers
Dolly Stark – San Antonio Bronchos
Charlie Starr – Boston Rustlers
Harry Steinfeldt – Chicago Cubs
Jim Stephens – St. Louis Browns
George Stone – St. Louis Browns
George Stovall – Cleveland Naps
Sam Strang – Baltimore Orioles
Gabby Street – Washington Nationals
Billy Sullivan – Chicago White Sox
Ed Summers – Detroit Tigers
Bill Sweeney – Boston Rustlers
Jeff Sweeney – New York Highlanders
Jesse Tannehill – Washington Senators
Lee Tannehill – Chicago White Sox
Wiley Taylor – Buffalo Bisons
Fred Tenney – New York Giants
Tony Thebo – Waco Navigators
Jake Thielman – Louisville Colonels
Ira Thomas – Philadelphia Athletics
Woodie Thornton – Mobile Sea Gulls
Joe Tinker – Chicago Cubs (HOF)
John Titus – Philadelphia Phillies
Terry Turner – Cleveland Naps
Bob Unglaub – Washington Senators
Juan Viola – Jacksonville Jays
Rube Waddell – St. Louis Browns (HOF)
Heinie Wagner – Boston Red Sox
Honus Wagner – Pittsburgh Pirates (HOF)
Bobby Wallace – St. Louis Browns (HOF)
Ed Walsh – Chicago White Sox (HOF)
Jack Warhop – New York Highlanders
Jake Weimer – New York Giants
James Westlake – Danville Red Sox
Zack Wheat – Brooklyn Superbas (HOF)
Doc White – Chicago White Sox
Foley White – Houston Buffaloes
Jack White – Buffalo Bisons
Kaiser Wilhelm – Brooklyn Superbas
Ed Willett – Detroit Tigers
Jimmy Williams – St. Louis Browns
Vic Willis – Pittsburgh Pirates (HOF)
Chief Wilson – Pittsburgh Pirates
Hooks Wiltse – New York Giants
Lucky Wright – Toledo Mud Hens
Cy Young – Cleveland Naps (HOF)
Irv Young – Minneapolis Millers
Heinie Zimmerman – Chicago Cubs
Four Hardest Cards to Find “Big 4”
These four cards often hamper individuals from completing the T206 set. They are nicknamed the Big 4
Honus Wagner
One of the most expensive cards of all time. Honus Wagner is a scarce card from a high-end Hall of Famer. Throughout his career with the pirates, he got over 130 war, 3428 hits, and a .328 batting average.
Every time this card goes up for auction, it sets record prices.
Eddie Plank
Plank was a 300 game-winner who played for the Philadelphia Athletics for the majority of his career. Besides having hit the 300 win milestone & being a Hall of Famer, his card is expensive due to the scarcity of it. There are considered to be less than 100 of these cards left. The rumor is the printing plate broke during production.
Sherry Magie
Sherry Magee was a decent star in the T206 set. He had a career war around 60 and 2000+ hits. Out of 3 of his cards, the rarest one is the Sherry Magie short print. The design on this card is a Portrait Shot, however, his last name is spelled incorrectly. It’s listed as MAGIE instead of MAGEE. Due to the error, the card was pulled from the print run early. It’s estimated to have under 200 copies in existence.
Joe Doyle (N.Y. NAT’L)
While Doyle had a brief MLB career, his T206 error card is extremely valuable. This error card had him listed as an NL team instead of an AL team. The tobacco company accidentally mistook him for Laughing Larry Doyle of the NL Giants. There are rumored to be less than 10 copies in the world.
How to spot a fake t206
The best way to spot a fake is to look at the dot pattern. Legitimate cards have irregular dot patterns. There needs to be a mixture of sizing and colors of the dots. If it’s uniform and normal, it’s fake.
The next thing to look for is the feel of the card. If it’s glossy or a newer stock, chances are it’s fake.
The last way to look is to see the text at the bottom. The color should be dark brown, not solid black.
