T206 Coupon type 1 scarcity level?

[barrysloate]

Ted- agreed!

[ctownboy]

To all,

To play Devil's advocate here, couldn't it be argued that if Burdick designated Coupons as T 206's that MORE of them would have survived to this day and that they wouldn't be so rare?

I mean, as it stands now, it seems, Coupons are mostly a regional issue that is mostly only collected by people in that area of the country. Leon just said he only has two Type 1's in his collection. As a small fish in this big pond, I have a Type 1 Engle and a Type 2 Needham and that is it as far as Coupons go in my collection (compared to 19 T 206's). So, it seems most collectors only have a few Coupons in their respective collections and that is as a type card.

After Hurricane Katrina, I read (probably on this board) that a big time Louisiana collector lost most or all of his collection to the storm and flood waters. Now, if Coupons had been designated T206's a long time ago, I am sure some of those cards would have been dispersed around the country (as would have other now lost cards) so that when tropical storms and hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast, not as many cards would have been concentrated in that geographical area and thus not as many would have been lost or destroyed.

With more of a dispersement and more known to exist, we would have a better idea as to how rare they really are. As it stands now, we can only guess. Which means these cards are going to be considered rare until a collector or two decides to auction off their hidden cards and they become more plentiful to the general collecting public. Or, on the flip side, another natural disaster or two hits that area and wipes out more cards and they become even more rare.

Just my thoughts,

David

[barrysloate]

Weren't many of the tougher T206 brands regional too? Weren't Drums mostly found in St. Louis? The fact that Coupons were regional still isn't a deal breaker for me.

[tbob]

Just a quick note on T213-1 scarcity. When I was a partner in the "Southern Find" in the 80's of those tons of T213s, they were mostly series 2s and a complete set plus several extras of T213-3s and not one single T213-1. Might have just been the distribution area but I found it interesting.

[barrysloate]

Bob- Ted Z. and I were discussing that find just this morning and we were wondering what the breakdown was. That is very interesting, and may explain why the type 1's are so tough- they were not brought into the market by that famous find.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Bob- Ted Z. and I were discussing that find just this morning and we were wondering what the breakdown was. That is very interesting, and may explain why the type 1's are so tough- they were not brought into the market by that famous find.

Barry: Type 1 0%
Type 2 90%
Type 3 10%

Just a guess but I think a pretty good one. The most prevalent card which wasn't a common was the T213-2 Cobb. I had a near set of T213-2s with multiple cards of all HOFers and I also put together a complete T213-3 set including 1 card which was not previously known to exist. Of the cards in the 213-3 set, about 10% had the factory overprinted backs.
That's the best I can do.
tbob

[drdduet]

I believe all the "white border" t-cards of the period deserve a looking through--consider subject, series, design, etc...The pieces of the puzzle may reveal a bigger picture---

Just to clarify--I'm in no way saying all white borders are T206's, but I am suggesting that there are links between issues that have yet to be discovered. For example T214, T215, and T213-2 & -3--how are they related--are they similar in subjects and series in a fashion like T206? They sure look alike on the front! Is their a pattern across these issues to suggest they were the "second coming" of T206 or were they produced with leftover supplies in swamps of Louisiana...the regional separation does suggest that there was perhaps an attempt to recreate the T206 (ATC) model in Louisiana using Coupon, Victory, Red Cross, etc. instead of Piedmont, Old Mill, Drum, etc...

Similar patterns do exist in the caramel world as well between E90-1, E92, etc. and T216....Makes me wonder if the tobacco industry in Louisiana was trying to model their distribution policies after the Northeast albeit a couple of years later with the same subject manner....

I believe research of this type could help tell the tales needed to reveal the history behind the hobby's most intriguing mysteries. There must be some unifying theory out there that explains and delineates all the moving parts without faulter--to the Bat Mobile, but let's get another Abita Amber first....