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Maine Antique Digest, May 2015 17-B
- AUCTION -
The tobacco cards known as the
“T206” series were issued between
1909 and 1911. They pictured both
major and minor league players from
the pre-World War I era. Big-name
player T206s can pull big bucks. As
of the end of the 2014 season, the
legendary outfielder Ty Cobb (1886-
1961) still held several major baseball
records, including the highest career
batting average and the most career
batting titles. His athletic legacy is
tempered by his nasty temperament
and his racism. Cobb himself wrote
in
My Life in Baseball
(published in
1961 just months after his death),
“In legend, I am a sadistic, slashing,
swashbuckling despot, a Draco of
the diamond, who waged war in the
guise of sport.” Cobb’s T206 series
card on a green background, advertis-
ing Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, graded
very good, went for $1840. His T206
“bat off the shoulder” card, advertis-
ing El Principe de Gales cigarettes,
graded excellent, scored $3795.
Another Cobb card, a T206 portrait
on a red background, promoting
El Principe de Gales cigarettes and
graded excellent-plus, scored a grand
slam at $4255.
For more information visit (www.
sacoriverauction.com) or call (207)
602-1504.
Three Ty Cobb T206 cards. Above: Sweet Caporal Cigarettes,
graded very good, $1840. Below left: El Principe de Gales “bat
off the shoulder” pose, $3795. Below right, El Principe de Gales,
graded excellent-plus, on a red background, $4255.
Ted Williams Play Ball card, 1940, graded
very good, $431.25.
Auctioneer Floyd Hartford predicted that this mid-
20th-century copper weathervane of a batter in
full swing would wind up in a California museum.
He was right. The Sports Museum of Los Angeles
stepped up to the plate to the tune of $2875.
When a shortstop commits an error, that’s considered a bad thing by
everyone except the opposing team. But in the game of baseball card
collecting, an error can be a very good thing. The image on the front
of this T206 series card is that of Norman Arthur “Kid” Elberfeld
(1875-1944), who played shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cin-
cinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, New York Highlanders, and Washington
Senators. Nicknamed “The Tabasco Kid” for his fiery temper, he was
said to have been thrown out of more games than any other player of
his era. His ejections usually came about for his verbal and physical
assaults on umpires, including one when he threw a lump of mud into
an umpire’s face. But it was what was on the back of this card that
brought its value up to $5635. The card was an erroneous “double
strike,” advertising both “Tolstoi Russian Mouth Piece” cigarettes and
“Piedmont / The Cigarette of Quality.”
Dave Bancroft (1891-1972) is
a virtually forgotten superstar.
In his day, he was nicknamed
“Beauty” Bancroft for his pen-
chant for calling good pitches
“beauties.” From 1915 to 1930,
he played for the Philadelphia
Phillies, NewYork Giants, Boston
Braves, and Brooklyn Robins.
He played in the World Series
in 1915, 1921, and 1922 and was
elected to the Hall of Fame in
1971, the year before his death.
His 10k gold Balfour Hall of
Fame election ring was consigned
by his great-niece, and it topped
the sale at $9775.
If you ever
wanted
to
follow in the
footsteps of a
major league
s u p e r s t a r,
here’s
one
way to do it.
Chief Tomekin was a Penobscot Indian who ran a small shop in Wells,
Maine, selling Indian crafts, including leather moccasins. These are two
leather “footprints,” apparently cut by Tomekin. The footprint above,
inscribed in pen “To Les- / Thanks for the moccasins / Mickey Mantle,”
sold for $201.25. The one below, signed “Jim Thorpe / Buddy Thorpe /
W. 46th St. / New York City,” with other illegible inscriptions, brought
$373.75.
Honus Wagner Play Ball card,
1940, graded very good, $143.75.
Charles Albert “Chief” Bender
(1884-1954) was born to a Ger-
man-American homesteader and a
member of the Ojibwa tribe in Min-
nesota. In 1911, he tied a record by
pitching three complete games in a
single World Series for the Philadel-
phia Athletics. In an age when rac-
ism and discrimination were abun-
dant in sports, Bender often threw
dominating games, following which
he would be taunted with shouts of
“Go back to the reservation” and
worse. He often would respond with
shouts of “Foreigner! Foreigner!”
His T206 card, pitching El Principe
de Gales Cigarettes, sold for $431.25.
Here’s a complete set of 200 Salada tea and
junket pudding mix baseball coins from 1962.
The plastic coins with paper inserts feature
such superstars as Whitey Ford, Roger Maris,
Willie Mays, and Yogi Berra. There were
originally 180 coins in the set, with ten repre-
sentatives of each of the major league teams.
Twenty players were added for the nascent
New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s, and
later 21 players were substituted for some of
the originals. The total price for this set was
$1725.