The most popular and widely-collected prewar card issue is undoubtedly T206. While the player selection is large and includes a great number of Hall of Famers and scarce backs to challenge collectors, the issue also includes a number of rarities that represent some of the set’s toughest and most desirable cards.
The Sherry Magee “Magie” error is one of them. Known as the fourth of the set’s “Big Four” rarities (the other three being the famous Honus Wagner, the underrated Eddie Plank and the impossible “Slow Joe” Doyle [NY National] cards), the Magie error is, of the four, perhaps the most popular due to its affordability in relation to the others. The reason for the rarity is simple: Magee’s name was initially misspelled, and corrected during the initial Piedmont 150 printing.
Despite the variation only being known with the Piedmont 150 (Factory 25) back, it is still considered by most collectors to be a necessary card for completion of the T206 set. It is for this reason that it remains one of the set’s most sought-after cards, and why its value continues to rise. One of the hobby’s most important rarities, it is thought that merely 150-200 examples of the card exist, the demand far exceeding the supply.
Graded VG 3 by PSA, this example boasts strong, bold color along with some minor surface wear and creasing along the bottom-right corner. With corner wear consistent with the grade, the card remains a striking example. With an extremely high percentage of the hobby’s known Magies existing at the lower end of the grade spectrum, an example as attractive as this one is highly desirable. An extremely attractive example of one of the hobby’s most important cards.