A 1909 T206 Eddie Plank baseball card will lead Heritage Auctions' sale of the Madison Collection.
The cards come from the highly sought after T206 series, issued by the American Tobacco Company between 1909 and 1911.
 Plank pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics at the time |
The Plank card is among the rarest in the hobby.
Only 45 are known to exist, of which just four (including the present card) are graded at EX-MT level.
Heritage comments: "The rarity of the T206 Plank is just one hurdle to be circumvented by the determined collector, but quality considerations aren't suited for the faint of heart, either…
"So few Planks exist and, of those, so few are capable of upholding a sophisticated assembly's exacting standards for preservation…
"This singular card is fated to become a cornerstone of an advanced collection, and it will confer an indescribable air of importance from the moment of its introduction."
It's expected to sell for in excess of $250,000.
A "green portrait" Ty Cobb card is offered with an estimate of more than $20,000.
It's a mid-range specimen of this rare variant of the standard card and is described as having "promising investment potential."
The most valuable card in the T206 series is the legendary Honus Wagner; a trimmed example sold for $2.8m in a 2007 sale.
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