[t206fix]

What is the definition of a t206? Do we have a consensus? I always took the definition to mean a card issued by the ATC and distributed in/with packs of cigarettes between 1909-1911. Is there another definition out there?

If not, and if Coupons were produced in 1910 by the ATC, then by definition they should be t206s.

I think the inclusion of Byrne, Mowrey and Rossman in the Coupon set indicates they were printed before Ted's ABCD grouping (AB, BL, Cylcle, Drum), since all three are ABCD no prints. This indicates Coupons were produced before the bulk of the 350 series. This excerpt is from Reader's Inside t206 The Bible:

Byrne, Mowrey and Rossman have been confirmed to date with a very limited number of 350 series backs that includes only Piedmont 350, Sovereign 350, Sweet Caporal 350/25, Sweet Caporal 350/30 and, in the case of Byrne and Mowrey, Tolstoi. The apparent unavailability of these subjects with a fuller complement of 350 series backs may be traceable to the depiction of these three players with teams from which they were traded in August 1909, before distribution of the 350-only subject group began.

Also note that Becker(1910), Campbell(1909), Charles (1909), Dubuc (1910), Engle (1910), Huggins (1910), McIntyre (1910), Paskert (1911), LaPorte (1911) and Starr (1909) were all traded to new teams during this time. Eleven more Coupon subjects were out of baseball by the time the t206 production had ended.

I do believe most t206 followers would reasonably conclude that Coupons were produced during the t206 era. ATC made a strong effort to include the right player with the right team. If they produced this set in, say 1914... it'd be all out of whack.

However, a few things Pat posted makes sense to me. The Coupons fit no other 350 pattern. I'm a math guy, and the patterns of the AB.350nf, BL.350, C.350 and D.350 make reasonable sense... The Coupon back does not (*see below, good luck trying to figure it out). Why?

48 random 350 subjects, of which 45 follow the ABCD pattern. Eleven also have a Carolina Brights card (including Billy Campbell, who was out of baseball by 1909). And, I asked this question earlier in this thread, but why doesn't the Coupon back include the "350 subjects"? As Mike, "Inside the West Coast Rapper", put it earlier, "it looks like a regional issue". Somebody may surmise that the ATC, circa 1909, decided to glue a few Coupons on the end of those 100+ cigarette cartons to distribute down south with a couple of Southern Leaguers to entice the locals to buy their new "Coupon" product. Maybe, it wasn't meant to be the full "350 subjects", but just a one off.

Therefore, in conclusion your honor, if Coupons were printed in 1910, by the ATC, they should be a t206 by most definitions.

Pat and Ted are t206 godfathers - their knowledge of the t206s will be passed down from generation to generation. We'll carve their names... ok, going a bit far, but I hate to see the rift between them. I have learned so much from both of them and appreciate their contributions to t206 history.