[tedzan]

Prior to this Goodwin PIEDMONT Plank, only 3 (or 4) T206's with this Front/Back combo have been found. The best example of these Plank's is the
Charlie Conlin Plank. It is graded PSA Authentic. The provenance of Conlin's Plank is very noteworthy since it was cut from the same (partial) sheet
that included the Gretzky Wagner.

Now, my contention here is that there is a very high probability that this Goodwin PIEDMONT 150 Factory 25 Plank was never in a PIEDMONT pack.

Consider the following factors......

1......To date the only T206 Eddie Plank cards that are found Factory-Cut were printed with these 3 backs..........

SWEET CAPORAL 150 Factory 25....Richmond, VA tobacco factory whose market distribution was primarily in the South, and included Pennsylvania

SWEET CAPORAL 150 Factory 30....New York City, NY tobacco factory whose market distribution was primarily in the New York-New England area.

SWEET CAPORAL 350 Factory 30....New York City, NY tobacco factory whose market distribution was primarily in the New York-New England area.


Surveys of these Plank cards indicate that the greater majority of them are either SC 150 Factory 30 or SC 350 Factory 30 cards. Very few are
SC 150 Factory 25 cards. The dearth of Factory 25 Plank cards, in my opinion can be attributed to American Litho's (ALC) intentions to avoid (or
minimize) the distribution of Plank's in the greater Philadelphia area.

It is known that Eddie Plank and his boss, Connie Mack, were anti-tobacco guys. I would dare say....that before all the hype associated with Honus
Wagner....Connie Mack (and/or) Eddie Plank issued a "cease & desist" order to the American Tobacco Co. to remove Plank's image from the T206 set.

If my hypothesis is valid, it can explain why there are few SC 150 Factory 25 Plank's. More significantly, it can also explain why PIEDMONT 150 Plank
cards were never marketed in PIEDMONT cigarette packs. It appears, ALC got around the cease & desist order (for a while longer) by excluding the
Philadelphia market since they stopped shipping Plank's to Factory 25.

However, ALC surrepticiously continued to market their SC 150 Plank by delivering them to the NYC factory (#30).....which shipped SWEET CAPORAL
cigarette packs to the New York and New England areas. This practice stretched out long enough for ALC to continue printing a number of Plank's into
their 350 Series.

2......Actual evidence of excluding the Philly market is alluded to in an ALC packing log that specifically states on a SWEET CAPORAL shipping pack's
destination....
"other than Philadelphia territory".

Finally, that's my take (after collecting T206's for 32 years) on why I don't think we will find a true Factory Cut T206 Plank with a PIEDMONT 150
back.

So, until the provenance of the Goodwin PIEDMONT Plank can be ascertained, I agree with Dan McKee that this card should not have a numerical
grade. I'm sure others on this forum may differ; and, that's fine as long as we can have a meaningful conversation on this subject.


T-Rex TED