A group of century-old T6 Murad Tobacco premium cards hit eBay recently–a consignment of rare vintage premium cards being handled by New Jersey-based Just Collect, Inc.
This rare set consists of 25 cards, each featuring a different American university. Each card measures 5” x 8” and is the oversized version of the far more common T51 set Murad College Series. The T6 set was available as a premium only to individuals who redeemed 15 Murad cigarette coupons for each card. Given its age and dimensions, this set is tough to find in any condition and virtually impossible in high grade.
Just Collect has 15 cards up for bid through this weekend.
“This is a fresh collection and could easily represent the largest find of the remaining T6s in this condition,” said Just Collect’s Scott Greenwald. “The cards were consigned by a woman who inherited them from her grandfather and decided to sell the collection to help fund her child’s education.”
The cards are oversized (about 5×8”) and feature just a handful of sports-themed cards, but the consignment yielded:
#10 Penn State graded PSA 5 features baseball. The only card graded PSA 5 with no examples graded higher.
#8 Harvard graded PSA 5 features football. The only card graded PSA 5 with none higher.
#18 University of Michigan PSA 4.5 features football. PSA 4.5 with none graded higher.
#12 Rochester PSA 5. One of just 2 cards graded PSA 5 with only 1 higher.
#24 Williams PSA 4. The only PSA 4 and there is just 1 higher.
Nine others are currently on the auction block.
The consignment was even more rare than the company thought.
“We did not know they were often pop ones with none higher,” Greenwald said. “But we knew they were rare and in nice shape.”
The artwork is among the more attractive of any early 20th century tobacco card set and the card stock is slightly heavier. The backs include the card number, series, a list of the 25 cards in the series along with an ad and an expiration date for the mail-in premium of June 30, 1911. It’s clear that exactly 100 years ago, tobacco users and others were collecting these cards, making the timing of the auction pretty interesting.
“They are different from your typical tobacco era baseball cards,” said Greenwald. “They appeal to set collectors and type collectors, obviously, and because there are so few sports-related cards in the set, I expect they will be very desirable. PSA shows they have only graded a total of 14 PSA fives and above in this set, and we are offering seven of them.”
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