Signed 1909-11 T206 Ty Cobb Green Portrait, PSA/DNA Authentic....

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The only example known!

Signed 1909-11 T206 Ty Cobb Green Portrait, PSA/DNA Authentic.

UPDATE: This item has not been offered since 2002.

"In legend," Cobb wrote, shortly before his passing in 1961, "I am a sadistic, slashing, swashbuckling despot who waged war in the guise of sport." The truth, of course, is somewhat more complex than that, but this greatest figure of the Dead Ball Era was unquestionably the most determined ballplayer of his time (and perhaps of all time). Every great ballplayer's yin will have its yang--for Lou Gehrig, his unwillingness to rest after concussions may have been his undoing. Mickey Mantle lived every day like his last, making his last day come too quickly. And Cobb brought the same gritted teeth fervor to breaking every record in the books that he did to breaking the jaws of those who disrespected him.

The Georgia Peach is honored four times in the most famous trading card issue of the Dead Ball Era, and the presented variation is the rarest of them all. But even within that narrow supply, this particular example thereof stands alone, the only known Green Portrait to bear the signature of its subject. Ancient black fountain pen script spans the Peach's chest with 7/10 strength. The card itself presents like most tobacco cards of the early twentieth century, with general wear and rounded corners. Verso shows evidence of scrapbook removal, but this does not affect the front. This card first appeared at auction in 2002, and this is the first time it has resurfaced on the major auction block.

While the autographing of trading cards is today standard operating procedure in the modern hobby, the tradition began well after Cobb's passing in 1961, so this relic from one pioneering collector is a true groundbreaker. This is a card far rarer than any Wagner or Plank, a true investment piece for the hobbyist who wants to take his collector where few if any could follow. Encapsulated by PSA/DNA, Authentic.