F. Scott Fitzgerald stamped T206

[tuckr1]

Does anyone know if any of the F. Scott T206 cards have ever been sold at auction??

If so what do these cards typically bring??

Thanks Tucker

[Cardboard Junkie]

Seen em listed on ebay from time to time. I think I remember someone disproving they were Fitzgeralds as some cards showed up that had the same stamp on the back but the cards were issued after his death. I could be misremembering. Also somewhere someone pointed out that he would have used FSFL as his name I think was Francis Scott Fitzgerald Lanihan or something like that. In other words I don't know.

[baseballart]

Tucker

I don't know about prices, but here's an earlier thread (among a couple of others at least) on net 54 http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?p=1141153 .

I suspect the prices will however be somewhat less than a jacketed first printing of The Great Gatsby :)

[Cardboard Junkie]

....and to add "The great t206 backstamp project website might shed some light.

[CardTarget]

I bought a low grade on recently on eBay for like $35. It wasn't crazy. It's a good rumor but I personally don't buy it.

[CardTarget]

That said, it's still a cool stamp and the original stamper was a prolific collector.

[z28jd]

Has anyone ever thought of putting CNR back stamps on 1987 Topps cards so future generations can wonder if Charles Nelson Reilly collected and stamped his cards, or is back stamping just a pre-war fad?

From what I've heard around the campfire, those F stamps could be anyone, but it is highly unlikely that anyone is F Scott Fitzgerald.

[mrvster]

I will look for a scan of mine.....the notion that the stamps where on another later issue was confusing, because the other ones I have seen are on OBAKS, and someone thought Obaks where issued much later, but the F stamps coincide on Obaks with the time frame Mr. Fitzie was collecting as a teen....FScott grew up in the Minn area.... as a 15 year old boy, he collected baseball cards(around 1909)........There are a lot of the "F" stamps on the EPDG backs(one of which I own).....I have noticed the examples that I have seen to be very clean cards, and many are EPDG T206 .....EPDG were supposedly distributed in that region.....

Fitzie stamped most of his cards with the Italic F ....... his cards were later auctioned off after his demise by his daughter as far as I can remember.....It was rumored he had a few 1000 cards.....


I had mine SGC slabbed a few years ago.....(SGC will not note on the flip as far as I know, but maybe that will change in the future if more info comes to light)....I just wanted mine slabbed to note the year.....I believe if the it is iron clad proven, some A hole will pick up a stamp and try to make there own Fitzie:mad:

value is in the eye of the beholder, but i'm sure if it can be proven, they will be big cards, in the mean time $200-$300 cards for now......i'm just excited to have one.....to imagine the history behind them.....



anyway, to sum it up, not proven but all signs point to yes:)

totally probable and plausable

[frankbmd]

These cards could have been stamped by

F. Ellis Burkett

You never know.;););):D

[tuckr1]

Thanks for the info Mrvster, pretty cool, any one ever contacted the F. Scott Fitz museum about these cards??

[CardTarget]

I actually sent them an email this morning. Will post if anything of interest develops from them.

[ullmandds]

i'm a little surprised noone has contacted them in the past to try to prove/disprove this theory?

[drcy]

F. Scott was a rich kid who went to Princeton, but I can imagine him collecting baseball cards as a kids. His book topics are very American.

[CardTarget]

The only thing I can think of that will prove this theory decisively is if the museum has books, letters, etc from him with the same stamp on them. Since nobody seems to know where this theory came from it just seems a bit crazy to me. But good crazy - I like it.

[Bugsy]

EPDG were supposedly distributed in that region.....


Do you actually have any information on this? I am from St. Paul and have never heard this before. It would be interesting to hear details. Thanks.

[brianp-beme]

I was the fellow that threw the monkey wrench into the works when I posted my 'F' stamp Obak here (see the link provided by Max earlier in the thread). Before then I had never read anywhere that anyone had doubts about the F. Scott Fitzgerald origin of these cards...it was an accepted storyline that had bounced along in the hobby for a long time. If I were one of those collectors just interested in the financial aspect of the hobby, I would have kept that Obak in the dark, as I do have a 'F' stamped T206.

But it is difficult to ignore what my Obak possibly indicates. I would love to find out early mentions of the 'F' stamp in hobby publications, but as yet have not heard any specific references to them. Somebody with a scad of time on their hands and available reference material...get to it!

Brian

[Paul S]

Here's what I was able to come up with:

1) F. Murray Abraham (F. M. F. Museum)

2) F. Scott's Brother, Farfel (The Biography Channel)

3) Frieda Cohen (Bronx, NY) (Her Nephew, Saul)

4) Fido (American Kennel Club)

5) frankbmd (Protected Source)


Hope this helps.

[brianp-beme]

Paul...it definitely helped me laugh.

Brian

[T206Collector]

Putting aside the obvious concern that nothing officially ties F. Scott Fitzgerald to these T206 cards (it is more officially an urban legend), the following took me about five minutes to put together this morning.

Where to find the right image for the letter on Google Images:

https://www.google.com/search?q=old+english+F&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&imgil=_eXsEwE-V1JGmM%253A%253BIjpcwzWGd7E9zM%253Bhttp%25253A%252 52F%25252Fwww.lettergenerator.net%25252Foldenglish-letters.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=_eXsEwE-V1JGmM%253A%252CIjpcwzWGd7E9zM%252C_&biw=1600&bih=763&usg=__obWpDQ7d0mOW8IIbTXUu_ROYm5U%3D&ved=0CCsQyjdqFQoTCLOjoqyp_scCFQMmHgodrIMKcQ&ei=AtT6VbOaNIPMeKyHqogH#imgrc=_eXsEwE-V1JGmM%3A&usg=__obWpDQ7d0mOW8IIbTXUu_ROYm5U%3D

Where to buy a good custom stamp:

http://www.rubberstampchamp.com/?gclid=CMjPlaKq_scCFdeRHwodnKAKZA


This is hardly a bomb-maker sharing the secrets of an illicit trade. This is a very common Olde English "F" that can easily be put on a rubber stamp for a few bucks. In a hobby that invites thousands of Honus Wagners on ebay every day, what makes us look the other way on this issue? I don't get it.

[Laxcat]

I recently purchased one and it should be here today. I like the story behind it. If it turns out true, awesome. If not... I did buy a lot of Eric Lindros and Ben Grieve cards when I was a kid. So it wouldn't be the worst money spent.

As I was posting the mail arrived. It's a Lattimore SGC 10

[packs]

Quote from F. Scott:

"Baseball is a game played by idiots for morons."

Are we sure he would have even collected?

[btcarfagno]

Quote from F. Scott:

"Baseball is a game played by idiots for morons."

Are we sure he would have even collected?

I think I read he was a fan as a kid but became disillusioned after the Black Sox scandal. Though that could be an urban legend as well.

Tom C

[Jobu]

I read that as well Tom. Plus, the name of the bad guy behind the scenes in The Great Gatsby, Meyer Wolfsheim, is accepted as an allusion to Arnold Rothstein, a name baseball fans know. From that bastian of accuracy, Wikipedia:

In the novel The Great Gatsby, Meyer Wolfsheim is a Jewish friend and mentor of Gatsby's, described as a gambler who fixed the World Series. Wolfsheim appears only twice in the novel, the second time refusing to attend Gatsby's funeral. He is a clear allusion to Arnold Rothstein.

Fitzgerald was also clearly a sports fanatic:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-football-genius-of-f-scott-fitzgerald-1414166403



I think I read he was a fan as a kid but became disillusioned after the Black Sox scandal. Though that could be an urban legend as well.

Tom C

[btcarfagno]

From Gatsby:

“Meyer Wolfshiem? No, he’s a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: “He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919.”

“Fixed the World’s Series?” I repeated.

The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World’s Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely HAPPENED, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people—with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.

“How did he happen to do that?” I asked after a minute.

“He just saw the opportunity.”

“Why isn’t he in jail?”

“They can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man.”

Tom C

[Joshchisox08]

These cards could have been stamped by

F. Ellis Burkett

You never know.;););):D

Or maybe "F"rank Burke ???????

[Joshchisox08]

I bought a low grade on recently on eBay for like $35. It wasn't crazy. It's a good rumor but I personally don't buy it.


Are there any other ones out there for $35 ???

[ullmandds]

Are there any other ones out there for $35 ???

id be happy to stamp the back of a beater t206 with a fancy looking f and sell it to you for $35.

paypal ok?

[Joshchisox08]

Lol thanks Pete.