Piedmont SL vs OM SL price
 

so often i see a piedmont southern leaguer listed at around 200 bucks for say a psa 4. sometimes way higher even.

if you look at the guides they really only distinguish pricing as southern leaguers, not by back.

i always considered that price of 185 to 200 bucks for 4/10 to be for the old mill souther leaguer card.

would you say that piedmont should also have that value or some where between say 70-90 for a psa 4 common and 185 for a psa 4 sl old mill card based on the card

or

would you say that the old mill card should be priced higher than 185 and the 185 is the price of a common piedmont back SL card

i think the range is all over the place and there are a ton of piedmonts that are over priced just sitting out there at 200 each in psa 4.

thoughts and comments please.

kevin

Based on supply they should be about the same price.

Quick and dirty semi-analysis
 

My personal bias would be to prefer an Old Mill back versus Piedmont. So I spent a few minutes looking at sale results for Southern League cards on Cardtarget. Unfortunately this iPad has no software to allow me to use any remaining analysis skills I may have retained. So I used the least reliable and least scientific method available. My eyeballs and goofball brain.

I selected three T206 cards off the top of my head and two grades to review, Bay, Ellam, Hooker, in grades 3 and 4.I compared sales info for these cards in both grades, and for both backs. I selected the Old Mill ( Southern League) and Piedmont back buttons. My eyeball impression is there is a definite price bias between the two backs. Of course I could be so wrong and would love to hear from someone who is actually competent at this sort of thing...

Just my biased unscientific back of the envelope (very) quick and dirty....

Keith

i question this. do you think they have the same numbers in the same grades in total and availability?

i didn't think so but i might be wrong.

kevin

I doubt they are exactly the same, but pretty close. Just an opinion. You could probably look up the population reports on a few random SLers and get a good idea, I have not.

Piedmont vs Old Mill Southern League vs Hindu vs Coupon
 

When it comes to the Southern Leaguers, Old Mill SL backs typically do command a slightly higher premium over Piedmont 350 SLs. I think many collectors like the OM SL backs as they indicate 'Southern League' whereas the Piedmont 350s do not. Also, Piedmont backs are more common than Old Mill backs in general, although Old Mill, Southern League or not, isn't considered a scarce or rare back.

Of the 48 southern leaguers in the T206 set, 34 can be found with Hindu backs. These definitely command a premium over the OL SL and Piedmont versions due to their scarcity. In recent years, Hindu SLs have commanded very high premiums over OM SL and Piedmont.

Then, for those who consider Coupons to be part of the T206 set (I do not), the Coupon SLs can command prices even higher than Hindu SLs.

Piedmont vs. Old Mill
 

Generally, I think Old Mill carries a slight premium over Piedmont back SLers. But, I really feel that it depends on the front of the card primarily. In other words, some SLers are "tougher" than others and if you have been searching for one of the toughies, you may pay a little more for a card that meets your criteria whether or not it is Piedmont or Old Mill.

For example, Ed Foster is considered a tough card, not a lot come up in mid to high grade that often, if one does come up, you may pay more for it even if it has a Piedmont back.

You also run into collectors that may be trying to complete the SL subset in all Old Mill backs, thus creating a little more demand for that back.

So, I think it primarily depends on which SLer is on the front of the card more than which back it has.