1916 Tango Brand Eggs Eddie Plank - Newly Discovered Checklist Addition!

Sold For:

$948

Year:

1916

Auction:

2012 Spring

Lot #:

1626

Category:

Internet Only

Presented is a newly discovered example of Hall of Famer Eddie Plank from the 1916 Tango Brand Eggs series! To the best of our knowledge, this is the only Tango Eggs card of Eddie Plank known to exist. This card has been separated from an original-owner collection of 1910 to 1920-era cards offered elsewhere in this auction. (For reference, the other cards in the collection are the two W514 lots and the lot featuring the rare T207s that appear in the Internet-only section of this auction). When this small collection was delivered, the owners were very amused that this card was so interesting to us. It is, after all, admittedly in extremely low grade...It's really only about 90% of a card. But there, mixed in with a small group of low-grade T206s was...a newly discovered Tango Eggs card. We were really somewhat stunned. It was an even greater thrill to find it in an original family collection! This is a previously completely unknown card in the Tango Brand Eggs set! Plank is not listed as being in the set by either the 2011 Standard Catalog (eighteen cards listed), Old Cardboard (the website lists 20 cards in the set), or VCP (the website lists 21 cards in the set). We have never even heard anyone mention Plank in the Tango Eggs set. The discovery of this card strongly suggests that the set may have originally included more cards than are currently known (even if no examples have survived). Perhaps there were really forty-eight cards in the Tango Eggs set, exactly as there are in the E106 American Caramel set? We will probably never know, but it is a reasonable theory. Tango Brand Eggs cards are very similar in design to the 1915 E106 American Caramel set, but with different captions that do not reference Federal League teams since they were issued in 1916. The fronts have a glossy coating similar to E106 and T214 Kotton Tobacco cards. The backs feature advertising for L. Frank & Company's Tango Brand Eggs. Also interesting for future reference is the fact that the cards in this collection, including the Tango Eggs Eddie Plank card, were (according to the family) definitely collected in New Jersey. The legendary Tango Eggs Find was from the New Orleans area. Perhaps the cards were printed in New Orleans, were distributed far and wide but in very small numbers, and the legendary Tango Eggs Find represented a quantity of cards that survived in high grade precisely because they were never distributed? Once again, we will probably never know for sure, but as is always the case with Tango Eggs, there are always more questions than answers. The mystique of the Tango Eggs set continues! This is a fascinating card. It is very likely unique. Despite its extremely modest condition, (What can we say? It's a little rough!), it is an extremely exciting new discovery of Hall of Famer Eddie Plank from the 1916 Tango Brand Eggs set, one of prewar card collecting's most legendary sets. Reserve $100. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $948