An 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinatti Red Stockings card is to headline a sale of baseball cards at Heritage Auctions in Dallas on August 13.

The lot is drawn from the collection of Leon Luckey and is expected to sell for in excess of $40,000.

The card was issued just four years after the end of the civil war

Issued in the four years after the fall of the confederacy, the lot is the highest graded of the 26 surviving specimens.

Heritage explains: "Even dismissing its popular status as the first true baseball card--a matter of some debate--this fantastically scarce relic would rank as one of the greatest treasures of the early game, providing a magnificent team photograph of the 'Red Stocking B.B. Club of Cincinnati,' the game's first professional team."

An 1860 Brooklyn Athletics baseball card is expected to make $50,000 at Heritage in a sports memorabilia sale on July 30.

A 1909-1911 T206 Christy Mathewson white cap proof is likely to prove another highlight, with an estimate in excess of $40,000.

The lot is the only surviving T206 Hall of Fame proof extant, making it exceptionally valuable.

Produced by the American Tobacco Company during the early 20th century, the T206 series is considered the gold standard by collectors.

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