Hunts now has a pair of signed Marquards that are new to the hobby. Updated composites now have 47 different examples. Crazy.

I saw those. I was thinking, I sure have seen a fair amount of signed Marquards. :confused:

Maybe it is just me, but I like the way Marquard signed his autograph, neat, tidy and totally legible. Compare that to present day unreadable ink blot signatures usually left by many notable players. I think the last player to truly respect and embrace polite requests for autographs was Cal Ripken, Jr.

T206 Marquard Signed Reprint
 

Well, not exactly. A few books and periodicals show black and white photos of Marquard's T206 portrait pose, which some enterprising collectors clipped and had Rube sign for them. Here's the only one I've seen, which I just picked up on ebay...

<img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2896/33783623830_7d842d76cf_b.jpg" width="549" height="880" alt="MarquardRP"></a>

A Pair of New Marquards
 

Two additional Marquards have made their way into the hobby-sphere. That brings the total identified up to 49. C'Mon ...someone out there must have Number 50!!!

Has to be the most T206's autoed by one player. Someone is going to find a hoard somewhere in an attic:D

Let's call it 49.5 (not my card)

Easily. It helped that he was a HOFer, who lived until 1980 - 93 years old - and lived somewhat close-ish to Cooperstown, in Maryland, where he would visit and of course sign autographs for fans.

Honorable mention would go to Larry Doyle, Fred Snograss, Lefty Leifield, George McBride, and Paddy Livingston.

I should hope not -- I just traded for it! :D

In that case -- sorry to steal your thunder ... Nice pick up!

50!
 

Here's 50! With orange ink, no less!

Movin' on up
 

A Net54 member reached out to me this weekend and showed me that he had acquired 15 signed T206 Marquards! An amazing feat! I was thinking maybe it would bump our total population up over 60 -- but, I was surprised that just two new ones (both hands at sides) were included. The other 13 had already been cataloged here.

So, we are now up to 52 different examples known. Still crazy.

Huggins & Scott is auctioning two more signed T206 cards in our August auction including Crawford and Marquard.

Well, that makes it 53! Thanks for sharing. Composite updated.

Wow, they just keep on coming! Has the huge number of these had any influence on the market for them?

I think so - particularly for the lower condition/quality versions. They were headed north of $2,000 for awhile there, with a couple of reported sales exceeding that amount. Now they still regularly fetch between $1,000 and $1,500.

Also, like I said, we had one guy hoarding them for awhile, and he managed to get 15 of them. If he ever divests himself, that will certainly have an impact.

The internet allows us to keep track of them all in one place in a way that would've been impossible years ago. The perception that a signed T206 Rube Marquard card was scarce, only up to a few years ago, is hardly defensible today.

I think the importance of pointing these out is about showing how relatively difficult any other player is to find on a signed T206 card, which, given Marquard lived until 1980, shows how most of these were almost certainly acquired in the 1970s. Doyle, Snodgrass, and Livingston are available, but even Doyle is still at about 1/3 of the total known Marquards. It helps that Marquard was a Hall of Famer, which drove substantial interest in his autograph. In this respect, a comparison of Marquard to Crawford -- the latter of whom I would guess has less than 10 signed T206 known -- is probably the best comp, in terms of autograph availability. Crawford died 12 years earlier than Marquard in 1968. Ironically, with the Memory Lane auction earlier this Spring, the Huggins and Scott auction this summer, and one I purchased from a private collection in January, three new Crawfords (all batting pose) were identified in just the last 6 months. It does seem like the exorbitant prices for these little gems is finally bringing them out of the woodwork!

Well then it should be interesting to see where the two upcoming cards in Heritage go. Probably to the moon (if indeed authentic). :eek:

Crawford-to-Marquard Ratio
 

I am aware of a total of 9 signed T206 Crawfords. That's about a 5-to-1 ratio Marquard to Crawford. Both players are HOFers, who were featured in The Glory of Their Times. Crawford died in 1968 and Marquard in 1980. It's hardly scientific, but based on these numbers I would estimate that about 80% of autographed T206 cards were signed after 1968. Of course, there are a ton of additional variables, including player popularity, availability, and responsiveness. But I do think it makes sense. Of the remaining 20%, most of those were probably signed in the 1960s. "Home Run" Baker (d.1963), Fred Clarke (d.1960), Nap Lajoie (d.1959), Ed Walsh (1959) have probably signed less than 5 each (I am aware of 1 or 2 each). I've never seen or even heard of a Bobby Wallace (d.1960). But, there are several Zack Wheat (d.1972) and Elmer Flicks (d.1971) available. Jeff Morey himself acquired at least three signed T206 Wheats, and The 2007 Great Pittsburgh Find of Signed T206 Cards had three Flicks. I would say I've seen probably 10 Wheats and 5 Flicks.

Anyway.... Who's got another signed T206 Marquard?!

Up to 54...
 

Nice pickup, Michael!

Marquard Can't Drive.... 55!!
 

Huggins & Scott has the 55th different signed Marquard I've ever seen in their November auction.

SIG Auctions just sold number 56 this month! Sold for $1,500. Great example at a very reasonable price. Wow.

http://auction.sigauctions.com/lot-79584.aspx

^^^ Wow that was a steal. Perfect looking card!

[October 9, 2018] Starting to slow down a bit on new discoveries, but Clean Sweep has number 58 ending tomorrow night.

[November 26, 2018] Evidence uncovered by Manny (net54 id: SetBuilder) shows that this Marquard is a forgery.

Link here, and photos to prove it.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=262580