Every now and then i think about back in 1909...

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Posted By: Mark

When these Tobacco cards were being made in some print shop and then inserted into cigarette packs. A gentlemen (or lady) buys these cigarettes and opens them, finding a Plank, Collins, Johnson or any card in mint shape then either tosses it aside or gives it to his son to play with. Did these people have any idea that those cards would be worth so much money and to compare todays prices to what folks made back then. It just amazes me that these cards ever made it to 2006 in poor-good shape at best.


I guess there are about 50-60 T206 Wagner cards out there, and then you see a T204 Ramly of Plank with a PSA population of maybe 12 known go for much less is another head scratcher. Or a E92 Crofts Candy Eddie Collins with a PSA population of 3. I wonder if in 2106 any of the modern cards will still be around and how much people will be paying for them.

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Posted By: Bob

The paper drives of WW1 and WW2 eliminated a great deal of prewar cards. I understand why so few caramel cards exist (with the added problem that they were handled by kids unlike the tobacco cards for the most part) but what astounds me is that so many T206s (relatively speaking) are still around...

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Posted By: davidcycleback

That's why the military used to pay so much for toilet seats. They were made from recycled Wagners and Planks.

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Posted By: Chris Mc

Mark, Imo people collect things. I would venture to guess that more than half the population has some kind of hobby or collecting. Did they know these cards would be valuable? Not all, but any free premium has value. I would love to take a trip back to see just what was available then.

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Posted By: dennis

there are a lot of t cards around because everybody smoked. people smoked like chimneys up until the 1960's. if baseball cards were in cigarrette packs in the 1950's they would rival 1989 topps cards in quantity!!

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Posted By: Brett

More people smoked and less kids baught candy.

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

People have been collecting for hundreds of years. I suppose the earliest collectible were perhaps gold coins. Back then, I'm sure people collected the coins simply because they were valuable. Then I suppose that somebody noticed that the coins had different dates... Also, people have been collecting books forever.

In particular the bible has been a favorite collectible for a long time...

Initially, people spent or threw away most collectibles, that's why a scarcity developed and voila we have the T-206. Perhaps, some impressionist painter's career was stalling and he thought that the T-206 cards looked quaint and he started collecting them...who knows. Thank God somebody thought the cards were collectible.

Peter

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Posted By: Scot Reader

Government data indicate there were 10 billion cigarettes manufactured in the U.S. in 1910. Roughly 1 billion were Piedmonts. That's roughly 100 million Piedmont packs made in 1910 alone. When you think about that kind of circulation it's not hard to understand how so many T206s have survived.

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Posted By: Joe Jones

I do not think people knew what kind of money they would be worth in the future, but they did like to collect cards! Baseball was such a huge sport at the time. The Kid who made this display obviously knew that the rare diecut variations were worth hanging on the wall.

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Posted By: MVSNYC

scot-

this could be off, but i heard that a total of 100 million T206 cards were made...and that 99% of them were destoyed (paper drives, fires, torn-up, etc)...

so approximately 1 million total survive today...

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

In the SF Bay Area, I spoke with the owner of the best retail sportscard dealer of vintage cards in this area. I told him that a board member bragged that he had 4 T-206 sets minus the Big 4. He stated flatly that he did not think it was possible. He said that few collectors had even one set minus the Big 4.

Peter

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Posted By: Dave

The owner of the "best" store sounds like he's making a mild case for being an idiot.

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Posted By: dylan

thats a pretty ridiculous statement. If you had deep enough pockets it would be very attainable. infact the only cards real difficult to collect four times over is the wagner and Doyle. Different Plank and Magie cards i see for sale multiple times throughout the year.

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Posted By: Scot Reader

Michael,
I think that more than 300 million T206s may have been made. My Inside T206 ebook, which you can download for free from the Old Cardboard or T206museum.com websites, has a section on this topic.
Scot

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Posted By: peter chao

Scot,

Now the Million Dollar Quetion would be out of the 300 million what is a reasonable estimate of the number that survived.

Peter