A lot of good points made on here. And yes, to me, iconic and beautiful mean two completely different things. For example, the 52' Topps Mantle is both iconic and beautiful. The 1951 Parkhurst Gordie Howe is iconic (in Canada), but very ugly!
Now, the Anson and Kelly cards are beautiful, but definitely not iconic. The Goudey Ruth (batting pose) is iconic, but I wouldn't call it beautiful. However, I think the red and yellow Goudey Ruths are both iconic and beautiful!