Signed T205 Gold Border

Signed T205 Gold Border

Signed T205 cards are probably only rarer than their T206 cousins because of their shorter distribution window (one year, 1911, versus three, 1909-11), but for this reason they are quite hard to find. While I am clearly a T206 guy, it is impossible for me to pass up on signed T205 cards when they become available. In my opinion, the signature turns an ugly card into a more attractive card. In this manner, T205 cards are kind of the Sleeping Beauty of signed deadball era cards.

This beautifully signed T205 Ty Cobb sold in the April 2007 Mastro Auctions (click link below picture for details).

Mastro Auctions: Signed T205 Ty Cobb

This signed T205 of the famed Black Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte was originally obtained by Jeff Morey. As was the signed T205 of Red Sox deadball star Tris Speaker, below.

From the Glen Turner Collection

Tommy Leach

If you compare the "T" in Tommy's authentic and facsimile signatures, you can see that the T205 designers utilized the player's actual signatures in creating the facsimiles.

Larry Doyle

This is a true beater -- but you can't be picky when you collect signed pre-war cards. If the player signed it, you have to get it. And check out how Doyle's authentic signature looks virtually identical to the T205 facsimile signature, demonstrating that the T205 designers had the National League players' signatures when they created their cards.

When viewing a signed T205 card, compare the player's authentic signature against his facsimile signature on the National League player cards. Compare the "T" in Tommy (Leach) or the "F" in Fred (Snodgrass); or look at the way the "E" was signed in Doyle and Bridwell's last name and compare that to the "E" in Snodgrass' first name. It quickly becomes evident that the designers of T205 utilized some form of the player's authentic signatures in order to create their facsimile signatures.

Below is a slide show of T205's recently acquired from the J.W. Morey collection. See more of that collection as well as listen to my 30-minute interview with Morey by clicking the Interviews & Articles link on this website.