1888 Allen & Ginter Set (N28)

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	N28 Allen & Ginter
Year	1888
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	50

1888 N28 Allen & Ginter Overview

The 1888 N28 Allen & Ginter cards featured a collection of 50 champions and stars in a variety of sports, including baseball, rowing, wrestling, pugilism/boxing, rifle shooting, and billiards/pool. Even more than 125 years later, the cards are still considered to be among the most artistic issues of all time.

Collectors differ on the exact date with some citing it as an 1887 issue. However, that seems unlikely due to the inclusion of John Clarkson as a baseball player in Boston. Clarkson wasn’t signed with that club until April of 1888, making an 1887 date a virtual impossibility.

The cards have some of the best artwork of any pre-war card around and the checklist of the full set is on the back of each card. As stated on the backs, the cards were included in each pack of ten Allen & Ginter cigarettes.

The set was followed up in 1889 with a second series of sorts. This Allen & Ginter set, known to collectors today as N29, also included 50 cards with more athletes being featured.

The Allen & Ginter name was printed on the fronts of these cards at the bottoms. Many collectors didn’t care for that and subsequently cut the bottom portion off. I believe that could have been a reason the ensuing N29 set only included the Allen & Ginter name on the back instead of the front.

The two sets are similar but different. Here’s a look at comparing the two against each other.

Baseball … and Others

The set includes a total of 50 athletes but it’s clearly the ten baseball players that draw the most interest from collectors these days.

Among the baseball players are six Hall of Famers, including Hall of Famers Cap Anson, John Clarkson, Charlie Comiskey, Tim Keefe, King Kelly, and John Ward. The pictures show the players in a variety of poses and are widely collected. Even the non Hall of Fame players are heavily desired and it’s hard to find one, even in poor condition, under $100.

The pugilists/boxers do quite well, also – particularly the card of Jack ‘Nonpareil’ Dempsey, not to be confused with the Dempsey that came later in the 1900s. Other popular cards in the set are those of Annie Oakley, John Sullivan, and Buffalo Bill Cody. Other sports depicted include wrestling and track and field, among others.

Another popular sport sought after in the set is billiards. The set includes some of the early greats in that sport.

Albums and Album Cuts

Allen & Ginter also created a special album as a premium known today as the A16 issue. That album included pictures of these exact cards minus the Allen & Ginter’s advertisement at the bottom.

Collectors of N28 cards should make sure the card they are receiving is a genuine N28 card and not a hand cut card from the A16 Album. While those do have value, they are not as valuable as the regular N28 cards. The easiest way to tell the difference is that the album cut cards do not have the Allen & Ginter name on the front nor the full checklist on the backs.