This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/4/2020
The T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb reverse featured in this auction is one of the most elusive issues in baseball history with less than 25 specimens known to exist. Featured here is what is generally considered the companion piece to that amazingly rare card, thought to have housed the legendary "Cobb/Cobb" card as a premium for purchasing the product. When "The Georgia Peach" was still a big influence on the emergence of baseball as the great American pastime, the consummate businessman decided to take on the big tobacco companies by offering a loose tobacco leaf product, labeled "granulated cut plug" and marketed to smokers that preferred to roll their own. A regional offering in his home state of Georgia, the product was one of Cobb's rare unsuccessful endeavors and quickly faded away. While it's never been confirmed that the Cobb/Cobb cards were packed into the tobacco tins, it does stand to reason that the assumption is valid considering that the number of surviving tins is far lower than the population of Cobb/Cobb, barely touching double-digits. From the scant number of sales that Cobb's product achieved, most purchasers likely would have saved the card as a collectible but few had an incentive to store away the tin, merely a receptacle meant to hold the tobacco and then discard. Further evidence of the pairing is the glossy surface on the card, which is otherwise identical to his T206 red portrait variation, as a way to protect the card from staining while housed with the loose tobacco leaves. What might have enticed some people to save the tin was the image of Cobb, bearing a striking likeness to his "bat on the shoulder" variation from the T206 series. This amazing example has defied the odds and stands as one of only a handful of Ty Cobb tobacco tins to survive. Though clearly showing some mileage for its roughly century-old existence, it is easily among the finest of known specimens. The overall quality is quite impressive with moderate rust but no dents present. Measuring 3-1/4 by 4-1/2 inches, it's one of the most applauded pieces of baseball Americana outside the realm of the baseball card market and a perfect pairing with the Cobb/Cobb card should you have the good fortune to win both.