In 1909, right before Walter Johnson’s ascension into one of the best pitchers the game’s ever seen, the American Tobacco Company was embarking on a once-in-generation baseball card set to be packaged with its various brands of cigarettes and tobacco. The T206 set, affectionately known as the Monster, features 524 generally accepted lithographic illustrations often called 'subjects'. This number includes multiple illustration variations of popular players, one of whom was Johnson. In addition to the Hands at Chest subject is the Portrait subject, an example of which is on offer here. This is one of 208 non-Qualified Johnson Portrait Piedmont 150 backs assessed by PSA, with only nine such copies assessed by the service earning a higher mark than this PSA 5. This month’s Premier Auction presents a wonderful opportunity to land one of the biggest names in the transformational T206 baseball set, with plenty of bidders likely to hop aboard the ride for this Big Train beauty.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 11/05/24.
