1889 Allen & Ginter Set and Checklist (N29)

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	N29 Allen & Ginter
Year	1889
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	50

N29 Allen & Ginter Overview

The 1889 N29 Allen & Ginter set followed the company’s popular N28 release from the previous year.

As was the case in the first set, a variety of sports were featured. The baseball players are the most popular/valuable, led by Buck Ewing, the only Hall of Famer. The pugilists and tennis players are next in terms of popularity for most collectors.

The design of the cards is virtually the same from the N28 set. The primary difference is that the Allen & Ginter’s name appears on the back instead of the front.

Unlike the N28 set, however, the baseball players left much to be desired. Many of the game’s top players had already been featured in the N28 set and while the baseball players here are still popular among collectors, there simply isn’t much name appeal beyond Ewing.

One quirk among the baseball cards is that John Morrill’s name is misspelled on his card (reads Morrell). This was an uncorrected error. Same with Charles Getzien, whose name was misspelled as ‘Getzin.’ Getzien’s name can be found spelled both Getzien and Getzein. Getzin, however, is certainly not correct.

A total of six baseball players were included. In addition, famous figure skater Axel Paulsen is present as well as a host of other sports, including wrestling, cycling, tennis, track and field, skating, and billiards. The set is pursued, in particular, by tennis collectors since it includes some of the earliest cards of actual players.

While the N28 set is generally more popular because of the inclusion of several star baseball players, the N29 cards are much more difficult to find.

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