Signed T206 "Population Report" (April 8, 2020)

As of the date above, I have identified 57 different T206 poses that have been signed by their subjects.  Nearly all of these have been certified authentic by PSA, JSA, SGC, or BGS.  The few that haven't either come from the Jeff Morey collection or were certified by another respected expert in the field.  They are listed below. 

1. Baker
2. Barbeau
3. Blackburne
4. Bresnahan Batting
5. Bridwell No Cap
6. Bridwell Cap
7. Bush
8. Carrigan
9. Chance Yellow
10. Cicotte
11. Clarke Batting
12. Clarke Portrait
13. Cobb Green Portrait
14. Cobb Red Portrait
15. Cobb Bat On
16. Cobb Bat Off
17. Cravath
18. Crawford Batting
19. Crawford Throwing
20. Doyle Batting
21. Doyle Portrait
22. Doyle Throwing
23. Fiene Throwing
24. Fiene Portrait
25. Flick
26. Hoblitzel
27. Johnson Pitching
28. Jones Davy
29. Knabe
30. Lajoie Batting
31. Leach Bending
32. Leach Portrait
33. Leifield Batting
34. Leifield Pitching
35. Livingstone
36. Lobert
37. Marquard Portrait
38. Marquard Hands at Sides
39. Marquard Throwing
40. McBride
41. Meyers Batting
42. Meyers Catching
43. Meyers Portrait
44. Parent
45. Phillippe
46. Rucker Throwing
47. Rucker Portrait
48. Snodgrass Catching
49. Snodgrass Batting
50. Speaker
51. Walsh
52. Warhop
53. Wheat
54. White Doc Portrait
55. Wiltse Portrait No Cap
56. Young Portrait
57. Zimmerman

Where Do They Come From?

It’s been almost 15 years since The Great Pittsburgh Find of Signed T206 cards.  This is a good time to reflect on the discovery of those amazing cards, what signed T206 cards have surfaced since then, and what the known autographed T206 cards in the hobby can tell us about overall populations of signed T206 cards today.

By way of background, at least 54 autographed T206 cards from one massive collection of signed pre-war cards and items began to make their way into the market during the summer of 2007. 

Shown here are the 54 signatures on 21 different poses that I have been able to identify came from this collection.  It is interesting to see the original collector’s obsession with obtaining signatures on tobacco cards.  He had the gumption to send at least 10 to Larry Doyle alone.  While this might have been overkill or even inappropriate to do at the time, it is somewhat ironic that collectors today only wish that he had sent more!  (Note:  in April 2009, Hunt held a trio of signed T206 auctions (two Doyles and a Leifield), which it has been suggested to me may also have originated from the Pittsburgh Find.)

The only other signed T206 collection of similar breadth that I am aware of came from renowned autograph enthusiast Jeff Morey.  In December 2007, I was able to connect with Morey, and he informed me that he sold the majority of his autograph collection – which was hardly limited to tobacco cards – through Mike Gutierrez/Mastro auctions in 2001.  Based on old Mastro catalogs, personal copies of his collection Morey retained from the sale, and a few signed T206 cards that Morey did not sell with the rest of his collection, Morey was able to get approximately 36 different T206 poses signed, including these:

By the way, the Cobb is stunning.  Amazingly, Morey was able to get the Georgia Peach’s signature in person while Cobb was eating breakfast in Cooperstown on June 27, 1960.   

In November 2013, Heritage held the largest signed T206 card collection auction in six years.  Not only did this auction feature the first offer of a signed T206 Rucker (throwing pose) since Morey’s sale in 2001, but the prices realized were more or less astronomical, when compared with the most recent public sales of many of these cards.  Ironically, though Marquard is the most popular signed T206 subject, not a single Marquard was available.  However, the other "usual suspects" Doyle and Snodgrass were featured, as well as an ultra-rare Tommy Leach portrait. For collectors looking to add HOFers, you had three to pick from -- Flick and Crawford, who both went for over $6,500  -- and the cleanest signature on a Wheat imaginable, which explains the nearly $4,000 price tag. No new discoveries here, but still wonderful cards nonetheless.

During 2015-16, a signed T206 Tris Speaker (shown below) fetched $32,310 at auction -- the highest price ever recorded for an autographed T206 card at auction by thousands, exceeding the $27,600 a signed Cobb Red Background sold for in 2010.  Speaker held the mark for a few months, until Heritage auctioned an amazing signed T206 Cobb Bat Off for a then-record price of $33,460 in August 2016 (shown below Speaker).  It should be noted that a signed Cobb Bat On sold for $25,080 at auction earlier that spring in BST Auctions.

During the Robert Edwards Fall 2018 Auction, another Cobb set the record again. This Bat On variety, signed in Cobb’s customary green ink, went for $39,000:

On February 22, 2020, Ty Cobb shattered yet another record — this time his signed Green Portrait went for $144,000, which amount is more than $100,000 higher than any other public sale of an autographed T206 card. A breathtaking hammer price for a breathtaking card!

Other than described here, there have been very few other sightings of authentic autographed T206 cards.  I am aware of a number of additional signed poses that exist in private collections, including Bresnahan Batting, and Chance Yellow, but they are sprinkled around ad hoc – again, not necessarily attached to any single larger collection of signed T206 cards.  Poses not mentioned here that also exist include Johnson Pitching, Young Portrait, Rucker Portrait, and "Doc" White Portrait.

If you are aware of any additional poses of signed T206 cards, or any hidden collections of T206 cards in the hobby-sphere, please be sure to let me know.