The Photographic Baseball Cards Of Goodwin & Company ranks star outfielder Ed Delahanty as the fourth-toughest Hall of Fame player in this seminal N172 set, an estimation that covers five different poses, all catalogued as #123. This well-composed and high-contrast throwing pose is known as #123- 4 (“Throw, R/hand head high”). Delahanty remains one of the most desirable of all 19th Century Hall of Famers, given his outstanding on-field accomplishments and somewhat macabre death in 1903, when he fell into Niagara Falls after being kicked off a train for disorderly conduct. Ed’s biography fits an archetype of great success jousting with personal demons, making his story ripe for inclusion in many other baseball tales, real or imagined. This card’s SGC VG 3 grade reflects great depth of contrast and an overall outstanding image, as even dark-on-dark details like those cap stripes and “Phila” jersey lettering stand out. As with most cards of this age, balanced corner wear and light surface marks tell a story of appreciation by a previous owner while honoring its high-quality Hall of Famer. The SGC population reports lack specific data for each #123 pose, but it contains fewer than 30 combined examples across all grades for all five poses, rein- forcing Delahanty’s status as a treasured Old Judge rarity. Any example with an image this good will drive great interest, let alone one for such a legend! MINIMUM BID: $5,000 16. 1887 N172 Old Judge #123-4 Ed Delahanty (HOF) – SGC VG 3
17. Ulra-Rare 1890 N172 Old Judge Cigarettes #11-1 Cap Anson (HOF) – PSA PR 1(MK)
Cap Anson remains the most recognizable name in 19th Century baseball, and is certainly among the most desirable subjects in all the N172 Old Judge cards. The typical Old Judge Cap Anson is not particularly rare. This is, however, not the typical Old Judge Cap Anson. Though often considered to be a single “set,” the N172 Old Judge issue is actually comprised of at least four different sets, produced between 1886 and 1890, the different years identifiable by the ty- pography in the bottom border. The final year of Old Judge baseball cards was 1890, as Goodwin & Co. was absorbed by the newly-formed American Tobacco Company. As the 1890 baseball season was a tumultuous one with the new Players’ League challenging the National League and American Association, Goodwin & Co. chose to identify the players with “NL” or “PL” printed next to their team affiliation (no cards of American Association players were produced in 1890). The 1890 cards are very scarce, as they were only issued for a brief period before production was discontinued, and they represent some of the most difficult Old Judge cards to find. Despite the 1 (MK) grade assessed by PSA, it is the rarity of the year that gives this card its impor- tance. While PSA does not differentiate N172 cards by production year, we can get an idea of relative rarity by examining the SGC population reports. SGC differentiates Old Judges by year, and they have graded just 23 examples of any card from 1890 (none of Cap Anson). While SGC’s pop reports are no- toriously unreliable, they can serve as an excellent guideline when considering the rarity of the 1890 cards. In fact, just 7 Chicago players have been discovered with an 1890 production date, according to The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company . An incredibly scarce card of a key 19th Century Hall of Famer, desirable in any grade, and certainly a centerpiece for any advanced collection. MINIMUM BID: $5,000
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