1910 PC796 TY COBB (HOF) AND HONUS WAGNER (HOF) SEPIA POSTCARDS PSA 2 (MK) GOOD.
Item Description
Presented here is one of the most desirable of all early 20th Century postcards, hailing from the widely collected 1910 PC796 series and depicting two future inaugural class of 1936 Hall of Famers, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, shaking hands during the 1909 World Series pitting Cobb's Detroit Tigers against Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates. This tough to find postcard set shares the same images with the ultra-scarce Novelty Cutlery postcard set, once believed to be from 1907-09, but has more recently been dated to the same 1910 issue date as the PC796 set. A total of 25 postcards were issued within the American Card Catalogue designated PC796 set produced by an unknown manufacturer with a total of 15 cards depicting Hall of Famers, including individual postcards of both Cobb and Wagner in addition to this dual image of the two all-time greats.
The 1909 baseball season marked the third consecutive year that the American League's Detroit Tigers would make it to the Fall Classic, after being defeated previously in both 1907 and 1908 by the National League's Chicago Cubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates were making their first trip back to the World Series since 1903, when they were defeated by Boston in the inaugural Fall Classic. Although it was a hotly contested series, Wagner's Pirates would defeat Cobb's Tigers in seven thrilling games to take the World Championship.
Most baseball historians would consider Ty Cobb to be one of the top 10 ballplayers of all-time. Among his numerous accolades are a career .366 average resulting from 4,189 base hits, 2,245 runs scored, 897 stolen bases, 1,944 RBI's, 12 batting titles, MVP and a triple crown winner in 1909. Honus Wagner is also widely considered to be a top 10 player in baseball history, accumulating eight batting titles culminating in a .328 career average with 3,420 base hits, 723 stolen bases and 1,732 RBI's.
Given that the image on the offered postcard represents a single moment in time, it's hard to imagine a better representation of two of baseball's immortals on a ball field in full uniform. Although it appears from the photo that these two gentlemen were exchanging pleasantries with smiles on their faces, this assumption is highly debatable given Cobb's tenacious reputation on the diamond and Wagner's unwavering determination to be the best in the game. If there is another baseball card depicting two more important historical figures side by side, we have yet to witness it here at Hake's.
PSA has graded this card a 2 Good (MK) and that designation reflects the fact the reverse, as intended, has a message written in pencil by the original purchaser. This includes a date that corresponds with the year it was issued, 1910, but the post card has not been postally used or marked. This card has great eye appeal and presents much nicer than the assigned grade reflects.
In order to provide context as to value of this amazing treasure, we have identified the three most recent auction house results of this card. A SGC 2 sold for $31,200 in January 2022, an SGC 2.5 sold for $11,700 in September 2022 and an SGC 3 sold for $16,800 in April 2023.
Don't pass up this opportunity to add an amazing dual HOF image to your baseball card collection.
