1800’s Cricket Cards - Old Judge

Jay Dude

OzCardTrader
Messages
8
Location
USA
Real Name
John
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I was hoping someone could tell me something about these cards. We don’t play cricket on this side of the pond. Wondering if they are in fact rare and maybe a value. Thanks in advance for the input!
 
Hi John,

Below is the listing that is in the Derek Deadman book Cricket Cigarette and Trade Cards - A Further Listing published by Murray Cards in 1985. The listing in the first edition of Cricket Cigarette and Trade Cards published in 1983 did not include these 2 cards. In my opinion these cards are quite valuable as they are Very, Very Rare. Sadly the word Rare get's used way too much with things today but these cards definitely fit into this category. I personally have never seen them before.

I wish you all the best with finding a buyer for them.

Cheers
Chris


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Chris,
Thanks for the input here! I'll most likely keep them because last year I came across an AFL player from this set. Right now I have three Aussie issued cards from this set which do appear to be extremely rare. The Peter Jackson doesn't appear to be as rare. Again thanks!
 
No worries at all.

There will be others in the set but not sure on who they are. Being a card from the 1890's they will be even more valuable in time.
 
I do like this AFL card. The subject is Dick Houston. North Melborne football club.
 
John,

Just logged on for the first time in a while - I know a bit about these... There are 75 subjects in the series (issued c1890) of Australian Celebrities & Politicians - actually 76 known because there have been two versions of the George Bonnor card identified - one per your scan and the other with a shot of him including a full torso. They were produced in the U.S. for Australian distribution and come in two versions - with the Old Judge at the base of each card and a 'blank reverse', and with an 'Old Judge & Dogs Head Cigarettes' reverse and are quite rare cards.

I have 16/75 from the series (including 3 of the 15/16 cricketers - Giffen, McDonald (spelled McDonnell on the card), & Walters. In Australia I've seen them sell for as much as A$1500 - A$2000 each, with the Australian Rules Football issues (11 known) bringing up to A$5000 each - depending on condition and the demand for the subject, when they are available, and that's not often!

As a cricket ephemera collector (Cards, Books, Badges and other miscellaneous items), I have also had the privilege of seeing 30 cards i.e. almost two complete subsets of the 15/16 cards with & without the 'Old Judge & Dogs Head Cigarettes' reverse in one collection, owned by a UK Collector. These two pages in his collection would conservatively be worth >A$20,000 each, if they were made available in an open sale!!!

Steve F.
 
I have this card, I understand it's even rarer than the Cricket subjects. I like rare type cards and missed a couple of opportunities to add to my collection over the past couple years partially because I just haven't been following auctions etc... Anyone know about this card?
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I have this card, I understand it's even rarer than the Cricket subjects. I like rare type cards and missed a couple of opportunities to add to my collection over the past couple years partially because I just haven't been following auctions etc... Anyone know about this card?
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Found this description (Link)

This series of cigarette cards is thought to be the first issued containing images of Australian Rules Football players. The series consisted of many different Australian celebrities. The portraits on the card were real photos and due to their age it is extremely difficult to find cards that are not faded substantially. Two different styles of card were issued - Style A - had the Old Judge advertisement on the reverse but not on the front. Style B - had the Old Judge advertisement at the base of the front of the card with a blank reverse. The entire set consists of the following breakdown of categories. 5 x Athlete/Sprinter/Runner, 8 x Boxing related (inc one Stadium Mgr.), 15 x Cricket related (inc 2 views of George Bonnor), 11 x Footballers, 7 x Jockeys & Horse Trainers, 7 x Rowers/Scullers, 10 x Politicians & 13 known Others.
 
Yep - I do, per my earlier comments (March 2018 post); Richard "Dick" Houston was a star at NMFC (then a VFA Team) in the 1880's/90's and this card forms one of the suite of 11 Aust. Rules footballers. These 11 are a subset of the 76 known different cards (inclusive of a known/recorded variation of cricketer George Bonnor). All 76 cards are very rare, with the Australian Rules (11), Cricket (15 inc both Bonnor's) & Boxing (12) subjects probably reaching a greater rarity status because of the demand from collectors of the three sports seeking them out. They were produced c1889/90 by Goodwin & Co (USA) and released with Old Judge tobacco in Australia with all 76 cards featuring Australian subjects. In the US, 19th Century issues were recorded as 'N Card' sets and these 76 cards form the 'N174' series.

Cards featuring the Football, Cricket & Boxing subjects come up occasionally at Auction & generally sell for >A$1000 (each) & I've seen the rarest Football ones go as high as A$5,000! Yours is a nice card but the Houston card is not the rarest among the 11 but is almost certainly the first card depicting a North Melbourne footballer.
 
Very cool. I’ve decided to start collecting again, I’ll be on the hunt. I did stash away an old scrapbook collection which I believe has two other subjects from the Aussie set. A rower and a celebrity. I’ll have to check. I did see some cricketers on eBay last year in the UK but passed on them for I just wasn’t interested at the time. Thanks everyone for all the feedback.
 
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