How an 87 Card Find Confirmed the Complete T68 Back Set
For decades, Natural Leaf backs existed in a strange space within the T68 conversation. Known. Seen. Discussed. But never fully confirmed.
Collectors whispered about them the same way they spoke about impossible variations. Some existed. Many existed. But did they all exist?
That question quietly lingered.
Then, in the quiet lull following the holiday weekend, the answer appeared.
On February 15, 2026, as many collectors were still recovering from Valentine’s Day celebrations, an eBay listing surfaced that immediately caught the attention of the small but dedicated group of hobbyists who study the T68 issue closely. The listing was simple and unassuming at first glance, yet what it contained was extraordinary: a grouping of 87 Natural Leaf–backed T68 cards offered together in a single lot.
The auction quickly drew interest. Early bidding pushed the price toward the $500 range, a clear signal that experienced collectors recognized the potential significance of what had surfaced. Before the bidding could run its full course, however, the seller accepted a $2,000 Buy It Now offer in what many observers later described as a true “sweetheart deal.”
What happened next unfolded quietly behind the scenes.
The original buyer, recognizing the magnitude of the discovery, quickly coordinated with another serious T68 collector. The two reached a private, undisclosed agreement to transfer the cards, ensuring the group would remain intact while allowing the new owner to assist in documenting the find for research purposes. Both the original buyer and the current owner have contributed information and images that made this article possible.
Equally compelling is the history of the cards themselves. According to the original seller, the Natural Leaf group had been in his possession for approximately thirty years, having been inherited during that time. This detail carries important implications for the hobby. It demonstrates that large accumulations of these cards have quietly existed in private hands for decades, often outside the visibility of the modern collector marketplace.
For researchers and collectors alike, this offers genuine hope that additional groupings of Natural Leaf backs may still be waiting to surface in estates, old collections, or forgotten family holdings.
Then Valentine’s Weekend 2026 changed everything.
The recent eBay sale of an 87 card Natural Leaf grouping, now cataloged and verified through direct confirmation from the anonymous buyer, represents one of the most important hobby validation events in modern T68 research.
Not because of the size of the lot.
Because of what was inside.
The Surfacing of the George Washington
Among the many historically significant figures represented in the group, one card stands above all others in importance.
George Washington.
Within the Natural Leaf universe, Washington has long been considered the quiet “holy grail” of the back type.
Not because of subject popularity alone, but because of persistent uncertainty surrounding its confirmed existence. While Washington appears across other back types with relative frequency, Natural Leaf examples have historically been elusive, undocumented, or anecdotal.
For years, seasoned collectors could not state with confidence:
Yes. Washington exists with a Natural Leaf back.
Now we can.
Its appearance in this lot removes the final veil of doubt that has surrounded the upper tier of the checklist. Washington’s confirmed presence signals something larger than a single card discovery.
It signals completion viability.
In other words, if Washington exists in Natural Leaf form, the ceiling has collapsed.
The Checklist Reality
The 87 card grouping included the following confirmed Natural Leaf examples:
Ethan Allen
Bismarck
Napoleon Bonaparte
Daniel Boone
Li Hung Chang
Christopher Columbus
Peter Cooper
Count De Lesseps
Fernando De Soto
Captain John Erickson
Admiral Farragut
Benjamin Franklin
General John Fremont
Garibaldi
William Gladstone
Nathan Hale
William Harrison
Patrick Henry
Henry Hudson
Paul Jones
Kosciusko
Lafayette
General Robert E. Lee
Samuel F.B. Morse
Daniel O’Connell
William Penn
Oliver Hazard Perry
Molly Pitcher (cannon up)
General Israel Putnam
Sir Walter Raleigh
Paul Revere
Betsy Ross
General Phil Sheridan
General William Sherman
Sitting Bull
Captain John Smith
George Stephenson
Count Leo Tolstoi
Count Von Moltke
George Washington
James Watt
Daniel Webster
Duke of Wellington
Eli Whitney
Alexander the Great
Lord Baltimore
P.T. Barnum
Henry Ward Beecher
Edwin Booth
Inspector Byrnes
Julius Caesar
Hernando Cortez
Davy Crockett
General George Custer
Edward VII
Cyrus Field
Hon. Horace Greeley
John Harvard
General Havelock
Henry VIII
General Oliver Otis Howard
Elias Howe
Sir Henry Irving
Andrew Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
James Monroe
Emperor Nero
Charles Stewart Parnell
Philip V
Wendell Phillips
Francisco Pizarro
Richard III
Cardinal Richelieu
W.T. Sampson
W.S. Schley
William Shakespeare
Miles Standish
Henry Stanley
Captain John Stark
Roger Williams
Elihu Yale
These were not rumors.
They were verified.
And critically, they were not freshly surfaced from modern handling. The group had been held by a single owner for roughly thirty years, inherited prior to that, and showed the expected hallmarks of long-term preservation. Noticeable creasing and sizing variances further support period handling rather than modern alteration.
What Was Missing?
Comparison against the official checklist revealed thirteen subjects not present in the 87 card grouping:
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses Grant
Joan of Arc
Robert Fulton
Geronimo
Zebulon Pike
Victor Emmanuel
King George III
Alexander Hamilton
Louis XIV
Winfield Scott
Mary Stuart
Peter Stuyvesant
However, cross referencing against established collector holdings tells the real story.
Ten of those thirteen are already confirmed to exist within private collections.
This leaves only three unverified gaps:
Abraham Lincoln
Robert Fulton
Geronimo
And even here, the wall is already cracking.
On multiple occasions the Natural Leaf Lincoln has been seen in larger lot sales on Ebay.
A Geronimo has surfaced publicly on eBay and could be yours for the low, low cost of $1,351.10.
The remaining Fulton are believed to exist in long held collections, with potential photographic confirmation pending.
The New Reality: Completion Is Possible
Early in my own T68 journey, respected collectors could not confirm the full existence of the Natural Leaf checklist. The working assumption was that some subjects were likely promotional or regional anomalies that never saw full production.
That assumption no longer holds.
Between:
Private collections
Recent auction material
And the Valentines 2026 find
We now have positive identification across the checklist with only three subjects awaiting clean photographic confirmation.
The conclusion is unavoidable.
A complete Natural Leaf back set is not theoretical.
It is obtainable.
The Next Step
The final phase of this research effort will move beyond existence confirmation and into full documentation.
Each of the 100 subjects will be logged with:
Front
Back
Condition notes
Back print consistency
This will culminate in a publicly accessible visual registry linking every confirmed Natural Leaf card.
For the first time in the hobby’s history, collectors will be able to pursue this back not as a mystery but as a defined master set.
And it all changed the moment George Washington surfaced.
A special thanks to the buyer and current owner of these remarkable cards. Their willingness to collaborate and share images for research made this article possible. If you have Natural Leaf cards you would like to feature on T68 Masters, please contact me at sikesdb3@gmail.com.
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