Rank
Back Brand or Type
1*
Ty Cobb
2^
Old Mill (Southern Leagues) - Brown
3
Lenox - Brown
4
Broad Leaf 460
5
Drum 350
6
Uzit
7
Hindu - Red
8
Lenox - Black
**
Red Cross - Type 1
9
Broad Leaf 350
10^
Blank Back
**
Coupon - Type 1
11
Carolina Brights
12
Piedmont 350-460 Factory No.42
13
American Beauty 460
14
Hindu - Brown
15
American Beauty 350 (No Frame)
16
Sovereign 460
17
Cycle 460
18
Tolstoi
19
Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory No.25
20
El Principe De Gales
21
American Beauty 350 (Frame)
22
Sovereign 350 (Apple Green)
23
Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory No.42
24
Cycle 350
25
Old Mill (Southern Leagues) - Black
26
Sovereign 150
27
Sweet Caporal 150 Factory No.649 Overprint
28
Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory No.42 Overprint
29
Old Mill
30
Polar Bear
31
Sovereign 350 (Forest Green)
32
Sweet Caporal 150 Factory No.25
33
Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory No.30
34
Sweet Caporal 150 Factory No.30
35
Piedmont 150 Factory No.25
36
Piedmont 350-460 Factory No.25
37
Sweet Caporal 350 Factory No.25
38
Sweet Caporal 350 Factory No.30
39
Piedmont 350 Factory No.25
This list is based solely on the overall scarcity of backs in relation to each other. No emphasis or additional weight is placed on a particular subject or subset within a back group that is thought or perceived to be more difficult than the rest.
Each collector’s experience will be different, and he or she might find that over a short period of time, or with a given subject, that the difficulty in acquiring certain backs doesn’t match this list exactly.
*Ty Cobb Tobacco
This back is controversial to say the least, and many collectors do not feel it is a T206. Others think it is. Compelling arguments have been made both for and against its inclusion, but neither side has yet to produce definitive evidence. Until the time that something compelling is presented, the Cobb/Cobb will remain on this list because it originally was classified as a T206.
**Red Cross Type 1 (T215-1) & Coupon Type 1 (T213-1)
Though we don’t think that these two backs are part of the T206 set, many collectors say they are or possibly could be. We included them, unnumbered, to show where we think they would rank if they were T206's.
^Old Mill (SL) – Brown & Blank Back
These two backs were not inserted into packs, and both are essentially printers scrap. Some might not consider these necessary for a complete back run, but because of their scarcity and ties to the set, they will remain highly prized by many collectors.