T206 Cards With Provenance
 

I just won a T206 card on eBay from the Lionel Carter Collection. Before bidding, I spent some time reading articles about the life-long collector, including the interview and letter between Mr. Carter and Paul (t206collector). This light reading about the legend made me really want to have a card from his collection as part of mine. I think I found the perfect match by picking up the SGC40 Mullaney.

Anyway, I know that there are cards from the Frank Nagy collection and there certainly must be others, right? I'd like to get a card from as many of these "provenancial" sets as possible and try to learn more about these old-timers who collected for the "love of the cards."

Maybe and maybe not. I admit to having a soft-spot for cards from Lionel Carter's collection.

However, I have noted that many cards subsequently graded from the Nagy collection have been graded "A" and appear trimmed.

There was also the fiasco of the Harris collection...to the point where I understand many of these cards were re-holdered so that they did not refer to that provenance anymore...

Previous ownership by a famed collector is not always counted on the plus side of the ledger.

Cheers,
Blair

PSAs handling of the Harris collection was no different than the first card they graded. No, not every card in the Harris collection was trimmed but there were many that were and those that weren't seemed to be given preferential grades.

Going back to the labels with famous collectors names on it I think it's a neat novelty (knowing that something came from a nice collection).

I want just one card from the 'McNall/Gretzky' collection

also
 

I just want the shavings from that collection. ;)

nice.

Erick, here are two T201's of the same players that Mr. Carter & Mr. Nagy both owned

http://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/nagypedigreec.jpg

provenance
 

Jay, those are great cards!! congrats.

erick, I have collected a few from Lionel Carter's collection and a few from Nagy's collection and really like having some from the grandfathers of the hobby.
I think provenance in these cases is historically illuminating for the hobby.
I also have just a few cards from some of the 'finds' in the hobby which also
give me a feel for both the geography and history of the hobby.

all the best and good luck in your pursuit of provenance,
barry

I didn't think much about that, but I have several cards from the Beantown Find (Bender, J. Collins, Joss, Matty, Mcgraw and Wheat to name a few). I guess there's no proof of provenance (on the flip), but now I think I'll get my documentation together and note these as "Beanies" in my collection.

At some point I'd like to add a Nagy (Jay, that's a sweet pair). A question, if I had a Harris Collection PSA card, would SGC cross it over and keep the provenance designation?

provenance
 

if you have one of the beanies with the blue box-like stamp on the back, that gives you a bit of an identifier methinks.

best,
barry

I'm picky...
 

I sold off any/all with the blue box stamp as they didn't fit into my collection. I have the scan from Ladder7, emails and my SGC invoice. The only issue is that I had some non-beanies in that submission... just got to sort those out.

Not one of the grandfathers of collecting, but I was lucky enough to buy about 20 or so t206's on ebay last fall from a husband and wife in virginia whose uncle was the original collector of the cards I purchased.

We had a few email exchanges and I asked if I could know more about the uncle.

They sent this reply:

Tony

My uncle Robert Buchanan Owens was born in Mason County Kentucky in
1901 and passed in 1970. He was in the military, I think the signal
corp and stationed in England during WWII. His family had a English
ancestry and he enjoyed having his tea each morning, with a cut rose
on his table from his flowers. He was a Travelers insurance agent for
30 to 34 years. He and his brother Frank S. Owens must have collected
these cards together. You can go to
http://books.google.com/books?id=qPs...e%20ky&f=false
to find more about his brother Frank S. who father had a Ohio River
ferry named after him. Uncle Bob was a kind man, who with my aunt
Viola, were very involved in the community and their church. Since he
lived close to Cincinnati, the Reds were his favorite team. He was a
gardener having as I remember huge flower beds of rose. He enjoyed
golf and was an active golfer. Finally, I cannot remember many days
that Uncle Bob did not have a crisp starched white shirt, a tie, with
a sport coat or suit. I hope you children and yourself enjoy he and
his brother's baseball cards. ,,

Lionel Carter
 

It is great that you found my interview with Lionel Carter somewhat inspirational. I am fascinated by provenance, which is particularly important when it comes to my signed card collection. So many of my signed T206s came from the Jeff Morey collection, which is so much more important to me than JSA or PSA-DNA's approval.

One of my favorite aspects of my collection of signed T206 cards is the letter Fred Snograss wrote to legendary collector John Wagner, when he returned Mr. Wagner's T206 card with an autograph, along with a signed photo and index card. The entirety of this mini-collection is below.

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HQmpwlTgFjPJwRwrir52f4RT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9uqQE-BoOi0/SuOjGhp1k-I/AAAAAAAAHXI/JARjcq6dV-E/s800/SnoEnv.JPG" height="460" width="800" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iVnw95YshRKaNIq75mOrtYRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HbKQUVfXNZ8/SuOjGjWAmZI/AAAAAAAAJac/eIFVZa075C8/s800/Sno%252520Letter.jpg" height="800" width="551" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/TdKWp3fflOR_eaUbgTBm1IRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gROc4f5Ibsc/SuOi5h6LbUI/AAAAAAAAHXE/vZDzryjZghY/s800/Snodgrass%2525202.jpg" height="593" width="800" /></a>

(Black and white photo above was signed on back:)

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/77ophbgxZqdDsnaursImjYRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5zGkNjSsoZE/SuOjGooyZKI/AAAAAAAAHXQ/_LnU29ZuEQs/s800/SnoPhotoRevAuto.JPG" height="364" width="517" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7U60gtKUKVSWCB00Wn3C1DiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ukN8edh2H4w/S7FE83mIKqI/AAAAAAAAHxo/A3Hgg-npBio/s800/Snodgrass%252520Batting%252520Auto%252520SGC%25252 0A.jpg" height="800" width="493" /></a>

Congrats on your pickup, Erick. The Snodgrass reply was a fantastic read! Did any of Frank Nagy's 206s end up in SGC holders? I have seen some of his other cards slabbed, but never a T206. It would be great to own one for sure!

Best,

Andy

this kind of provenance is cool. nagy, carter etc hand-down cards...not so much. i don't care which old guy owned the cards before me. with old people i usually have to talk louder and they can be pretty cranky...not cool.

Thats some great Snodgrass memorabilia.I agree terrific read.

That Snodgrass collection is fantastic.
I also have a letter from Snodgrass written to a collector.
No mention of cigarette cards, but he does mention Matty & McGraw & other baseball content.

http://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/snodgrass.jpg

I totally agree with the sentiment that owning a card that formerly belonged to one of those grand collections is to, in my small way, partake of the history and tradition of our illustrious hobby.

My only card of provenance:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...52520front.jpg

Happy Thanksgiving to all,
--S

Pulled from the packs by....
 

....Lionel Carter in 1933 to begin his baseball card obsession...
JimB

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/839...6cochranes.jpghttp://img97.imageshack.us/img97/393...7gerhigsgc.jpg
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/9...21foxxsgc5.jpghttp://img824.imageshack.us/img824/9...17martinsg.jpg