Lot 598 in the just-concluded REA auction is a T204 Bob Ewing Ramly graded SGC Gem Mint 98. This is a remarkable grade for a Ramly card of course. The explanation for this grade was given by Rob Lifson in his Spring 2014 auction when Rob auctioned off about 30 Ramlys with amazing near-mint mint and mint grades. In the catalog, Rob (true to his remarkable knowledge and integrity) said: "As noted in the introduction to the Ramly section of this auction, we believe that some of the early SGC-graded T204 Ramlys were sheet-cut decades ago by legendary hobby pioneer Frank Nagy, who in the 1970s had a pristine T204 Ramly sheet (the only one in existence), and this fact is likely related to the unparalleled perfection of this card". The Ewing card in this last auction was also in the 2014 auction and the write-up included this disclosure above (this disclosure was included for all of those high-grade SGC Ramlys in that auction). Here's the link:
http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...e?itemid=30246
This same peripatetic Ewing card was subsequently sold (after the REA 2014 auction) in a Mile High Jan. 2016 auction (Lot 283). Mile High did not disclose that this card was possibly (likely?) cut from a sheet. Here's the link:
http://www.milehighcardco.com/1909_T...-LOT43038.aspx
Neither did Brian Dwyer disclose this "possibility." (By the way, I consider Brian to be a very worthy successor to Rob in terms of knowledge, integrity and being a nice guy.)
Especially odd to me is that this Ewing card in REAs last auction was either reholdered by SGC, or a new label put on the old one. The same number was kept, but a newer SGC label was put on, replacing the older SG, LLC label. I assume the purpose wasn't to make it appear that the card was recently re-graded (to differentiate it from "earlier graded" SGC cards that Rob Lifson referred to.) But should this card have continued to receive a Gem rating, as opposed to "Authentic"?
Smarter people can answer.
Rich Rubin