Newbie Questions
 

I'm going to an auction tomorrow and I have some very basic questions: What are these? How much are 'beaters' to maybe SGC 30 worth? What backs are common / tougher? Thanks!

T206
 

Those are called T206 "White Borders" Hands down the most popular pre-war tobacco cards. Those look to be in decent GD/VG shape and probably worth between 20-30 each (they are all commons). Ones in terrible/creased or worse shape tend to run between 10-20/ea. Most common backs are Piedmont, Sweet Caporal, Polar Bear and a few others. There are many slightly tougher backs like Cycle, Sovereign, Tolstoi, etc. and then much scarcer backs like Drum, Hindu (Red and Brown), Broadleaf, Carolina Brights, and many more. These back premiums can x10 x20+ the value of any said card. I am leaving out many details but I'm sure others will chime in with a more detailed thread regarding back scarcity, other brands.

Wow, Thanks Patrick! I was looking around and couldn't get a fix on the run. They looked later than the T206. I'm going to need to print out your answer. That's too much for me to learn at this late hour! Thanks again!

when buying t206 as a beginner i would buy a magnifying glass if you are buying raw t206 or any pre war cards unless they are graded by sgc, psa or bcg. The reason i'm saying this is there can be some really good fakes out there and there will people always trying screw you so buy from reputable dealers or know what to look for. T206 and most other pre war cards not all are lithographs and when you look at them under magnification they will look like random colored dots and if you have any newer cards look at those and look at a real t206 and you will see what i'm saying.

A great site about T206's that a fellow Net54 member runs:

http://t206resource.com/

that is a great site.. Props to the member who runs it. I am new to the t206 game and i learned alot from there. Was very interesting reading the background of some of the player, and the story behind the cards

And a small black light can be invaluable.

From the picture they look good.

If you've never had one, T206s are sharp cards. Worth picking one up. There's a reason they're so popular with collectors.

Keep buyin em

Well, they were decent. One that looked trimmed, one with paper loss on the back ( the lone Caporal) and the other 4 solid 1.5- 2 . However, the reserve was $50 each!
Thanks everyone for your guidance. I have owned T206 in the past, but only to flip during my dealer days. Never saw the attraction back then. :o

...prolly better to just stick with the hookers and blow at this point.

Why not all three? That's like having Snap and Pop, without the Crackle.

?????
 

Just curious why you would start this thread?

I find it rather strange that the OP has 103 posts on this forum but couldn't identify a T206 card.

Frank / Manny: I have had T206's in my possesion a few times for a week or two at the most 30-35 years ago. I often see on here references to other series that (to me) look similar. Another thing, while I thought they might be T206, they looked too clean in relation to a lot of others. I wasn't sure if there were reprints out there. But Patrick confirmed they were a "White Border" variety. Usually I learn by lurking, or PM's, but sometimes I gotta post dumb questions. Especially as I was under a time constraint. Hence the "Newbie Questions" title.