Revisiting the T206 Wagner "strip"

[FrankWakefield]

One matter that everyone seems in agreement about is that some third party grader graded this... Which company graded it? And, does anyone recall what the slip indicated it was? I'm not concerned about a grade or number, I'm asking about the grader's identity of the item.

If I take a photograph next time I'm at a ballpark, and print it off with a caption added once I get home, then it seems that should be as 'gradable' as this assemblage is.

[GoSoxBoSox]

It says:
"1909 T206
Honus Wagner
Proof Strip."

With Authentic as the "grade".

[HRBAKER]

I think it is more properly stated that they (SGC) authenticated it ("A") but then again "A" is considered a grade by some. IMO with this piece the grading neither adds to nor detracts from it, what it does do is keep people from handling it and restrains the amount of scrutiny it can be given now. I have collected pre-war for a few decades now and am an expert at nothing. It is a fascinating subject though.

[Rob D.]

"SGC" stands for Sportscard Guaranty. Here is a link to the company's website:

http://www.sgccard.com/

[FrankWakefield]

Thank you, guys. I now recall SGC was mentioned back up there.

I don't think it is a "proof". Proofs from this issue had the vertical and horizontal crosshairs, centered in the borders. A few of the guys here have cards like that. We've not seen anything like this for any of the other cards in the white border series, just this one item.

And thanks for the scan of it in its slab. This rascal will be fodder for discussion in future generations.

[dstudeba]

It is my understanding that this strip has been in the hobby in raw form for at least 25 years. In that time it was handled by a number of collectors who always considered it to be a complete strip of cards from the T206 era. From a scan Ted determines that it is a set of individual cards put together and goes public with this theory. After much discussion defending his view, he actually sees the piece in question, examines it through a slab, and determines that he is indeed correct.

I don't think this would have gone over well in a peer reviewed journal.

Rob D, thank you very much for your post.