1912 Ty Cobb Tobacco Tin

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/20/2013

The Ty Cobb Tobacco Tin is one of the rarest, most elusive and highly desirable of all baseball tobacco related items. Two of the majorly collected items of the early part of the 20th Century are baseball and tobacco products. To get a combination of the two, and then add the most visible and popular player of its day completes the mystique and desirability of the Ty Cobb tobacco tin. This tin is so popular and rare, it transcends collector bases. Many tobacco tin collectors, but not exactly sports enthusiasts, know the rarity of this item and pursue its ownership with equal abandon as the sports collector does. This type of tin housed plug tobacco was the kind of tobacco used by people who “rolled their own” and by pipe smokers. The scarcity of the Ty Cobb tin is commensurate with its “companion piece,” the T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb reverse baseball card, as only about a dozen of each is known to exist. We also have a T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb reverse baseball card in this auction. These particular cards were inserted in the Ty Cobb tobacco tins, and the card itself is very similar to the T206 Cobb red background card. The connection of this tin to the T206 set is also extremely strong as the image of Ty Cobb used on the tin is the same image used in the production of the T206 Ty Cobb “Bat on Shoulder” tobacco card. As with all tobacco tin collectibles from the early part of the 20th Century, examples are rarely found in Near Mint condition. Oftentimes, the tins have the usual issues such as dents, scratches, and evident oxidation. This presented example of the rare Ty Cobb tobacco tin is no exception. The “front” (the side opposite the hinge) exhibits various dents, abrasions and small areas of chipped paint. Various areas of oxidation appear, most notably on the lid and the bottom, but also is predominant on the “front” of this tin, somewhat obscuring the image of Cobb. However, the “reverse” is much brighter, with bolder colors and less visibility of scuffing and the effects of oxidation. Due to the extreme scarcity of this Ty Cobb tobacco tin, even examples with the usual faults are highly desirable. Although a few examples have recently changed hands over the last several years, as is the case with many extremely rare items, after many years one is offered, and then a few “come out of the woodwork.” This supply dries up and it is usually years, if not a decade or more before another similar item is presented at auction. This is an excellent opportunity to obtain the scarcest and most valuable tobacco tin, one which offers collectors of two separate areas of collecting this unique opportunity.