(LOT 96)
1909-11 T206 Brown Old Mill George Paige Southern Leaguer PSA Authentic – The SOLE Example Listed on the PSA & SGC POP Charts!
RARE BROWN OLD MILL!!! Aside from the revered "Ty Cobb King of the Smoking World" ad back, no T206 advertisement is considered scarcer than a Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguer. The well-respected T206Resource website documents that notion, with the Brown Old Mill ad back listed as the second rarest of all 39 T206 advertisements. Presented here just happens to be one of those near-impossible to find T206 Brown Old Mill subjects, a super-eye-pleasing PSA Authentic George Paige marvel that is the sole example on the COMBINED PSA and SGC Pop Charts! Locating any Brown Old Mill subject is synonymous to finding a needle in a haystack, with the T206Resource website confirming the following 14 known Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers: Bernhard; Foster; Greminger; Helm; Hooker; Jordan; Kiernan; Mullaney; Paige; Reagan; Revelle; Smith; Thornton; Violat. Most significantly, there are only one or two documented examples for each of these 14 Brown Old Mill players, placing them as the most elusive of all T206s. Regarding their mistaken inception, one particular theory is that Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers were issued directly after Brown Hindu subjects, whereby the Hindu brown ink was not changed to black before manufacturing the Old Mill subjects.

Thus, a few Brown Old Mill examples were issued on scrapper sheets that were never factory cut and inserted into cigarette packs, resulting in Brown Old Mill subjects exhibiting manually cut edges and Authentic grades. Although this concept is certainly not a bona fide conclusion, it certainly makes the most sense, and while hobbyists may never achieve 100% resolution for the true advent of Brown Old Mill issues, their utmost paucity level is etched in stone. This George Paige offering provides VG aesthetics, courtesy of a well-centered and crystal-clear portrait pose of the by-gone right-hander who won a single MLB game for the Cleveland Naps in 1911, his only MLB campaign. Paige did manage to win 86 games in nine minor league seasons, and his classic image donning his 1909 Charleston Sea Gulls flannels (worn in the South Atlantic League) has retained many of its original print qualities over the past 114 years. An eye-pleasing manual cut from its original scrapper sheet, rich green background, and lack of any obtrusive surface flaws (save a modest surface abrasion on Paige's left ear) are the highlights of this extremely rare memento. Of course, it is the miraculous BROWN OLD MILL verso that is the key aspect of this remarkable tobacco treasure, conceivably standing tall as the one and only T206 Brown Old Mill George Paige marvel!

MIN BID $4,000
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