CGC Cards Featured Registry Set: 1911 T205 Baseball Set
Posted on 11/7/2023
With the 2023 World Series in the books, we look back at baseball’s rich history by featuring an early pre-war set: the 1911 T205. Collector jhopp has compiled a set called t205 Gold Border that features 41 graded cards out of the 208-card master set. Their collection includes several Top Pop cards that are the highest-graded examples in the CGC Population Report, including one that earned a grade of CGC 5, which is not often seen for these vintage cards that are a century old.
The 1911 T205 baseball set is well-known for its attractive gold leaf border. It can be separated into three groups since the set has different designs for American League, National League and Minor League cards. Over half of the checklist consists of American League players shown inside a diamond-shaped frame along with a baseball, two bats, a catcher's glove and mask. The team's name and logo are featured in each of the top corners, while the player's name and team city are within a banner below the player's image.
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| 1911 T205 Gold Border Charlie Hemphill graded CGC 4 Click images to enlarge. |
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The cards of National League players have larger portraits that are unframed and on a solid background. Once again, the team's name and logo appear in each upper corner. However, a facsimile autograph of each player is used in place of a printed name. This set marks the first time a replica signature was used on a major sports card set.
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| 1911 T205 Gold Border Floyd M. Kroh graded CGC 5 Click images to enlarge. |
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The 1911 T205 set also includes a smaller group of Minor League player cards, which have a more intricate design and a three-quarter length picture. Also, the Minor League cards were only found in Hassan or Polar Bear cigarette packs.
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| 1911 T205 Gold Border John Nee graded CGC 3.5 Click images to enlarge. |
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All three designs are surrounded by an outer gold frame, which through the years has been easily susceptible to chipping and makes higher-grade cards from this vintage set even rarer and more valuable. While there are three types of front designs, each mostly features the same back designs. The 1911 T205 cards are some of the first to include a player's biographical information, which has commonly been used on the backs of modern cards for decades. The main difference on the back of the cards is 11 various advertisements of cigarette brands that are included at the bottom.
About the CGC Cards Sports Card Registry
The CGC Cards Sports Card Registry is a free online platform where collectors can register and display their CGC-certified sports cards. The registry helps you to organize your collection and interact with other collectors. Begin adding your CGC-certified sports cards and create CGC Cards Registry sets here. Your sets are automatically considered for the annual CGC Cards Registry Awards, where winners receive a prize package that includes a $500 CGC Cards grading credit. For more information on the CGC Cards Registry Awards, you may find the announcement here.
If you don't see a set for your cards, you may request a set. Please review our CGC Cards Registry FAQs for details on how to add requests for sets and slots.
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