Washington T206 Mini-Set Comparison to High-Grade Competitor

[GeoPoto]

Card 1: George E. Browne. Right fielder for the Washington Senators in 1909-1910. 1,176 hits, 18 home runs, and 190 stolen bases in 12 MLB seasons. Led the NL in runs scored in 1904. 1905 World Series champion. Debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1901. His best season was 1903 for the New York Giants as he led the league in games played and posted a .364 OBP with 27 stolen bases in 652 plate appearances. In all he had 7 seasons with more than 500 plate appearances.

George Browne Washington Sovereign 350: Overall, George Browne cards are common (PSA has graded 809), but because they are split between Chicago (PSA-458) and Washington (PSA-351), getting the variant you want can be a little harder than some commons. PSA has graded eight Browne Washington T206 cards at the PSA 7 level and three at PSA 8. Browne Washington is in Print Group 1, 350 Series Only. When it comes to Sovereign 350 backs, the Washington variant is the only option and comes in Forest Green. All of the Browne T206 cards misspell his name as Brown.

Heritage/Rounders Entry: Graded 7 by PSA this card sports the sharp corners and edges you would expect for the grade. It also presents a clear image with an unblemished surface. The back is okay with moderate fading. The problem with the card is obvious and off-putting. It is badly centered high (also slightly right). This creates a cringeworthy upper border that barely exists. Overall, the borders are not horrible as the bottom border is excellent, benefitting from the skinny top border. The side borders are okay, but nothing to brag about.

My Entry: Graded 3 by PSA this card evidences its age and handling. The edges are fair, but the corners are well rounded. The image is good with a few minor surface scuffs. The centering is virtually perfect to my eye which favors a little extra bottom border to accommodate the name and team designation. The borders are very strong, providing some comfort that the card may not have been altered. The back is clean, marred only by one small stain.

Comparison: The H/R card is a clean, nice image with no blemishes and sharp edges and corners. My card has a nice image but does show some surface and edge wear with severely rounded corners. The backs are similar with my card showing one distinct stain. The H/R card is badly centered while my card is extremely well-centered. The two cards have comparable bottom borders, while my card has a significantly larger top border and slightly larger side borders.

My conclusion: I like my card. In my mind, the larger borders and superior centering more than offset the crispness of the H/R card, which is remarkable, but also hard to look at, with its vanishing top border. It is much easier to look at my card without being reminded of how easy it is to improve edges and corners through trimming. The backs are very similar, except my card has a small stain that doesn't detract much, to my eye.

The bottom line: If we ignore resale value, I would not trade my card for the H/R card. I think my card is better.

Additional George Browne Fun Fact: On June 29,1905, Browne played right field for the New York Giants in a game against the Brooklyn Superbas. At the end of the eighth inning, he was replaced by Moonlight Graham.