The 1887 N172 Old Judge tobacco card set, issued by the American Tobacco Company, is widely considered the very first major set of baseball cards produced. Containing seven different cards featuring individual baseball players, the 1887 N172 set represented the start of a new collecting phenomenon that would grow into an international multi-billion dollar industry over the ensuing decades.
Each card in the 1887 set measured approximately 2 1/4 inches by 2 3/4 inches and was printed lithographically in black and grey scale on thin cardboard stock. The front of each card featured an image of an individual baseball player in their uniform along with their name and team. On the back was printed colorful advertising copy and imagery promoting Old Judge tobacco. The seven players included in the inaugural 1887 set were Jim O’Rourke, Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Ned Williamson, Charley Jones, Dan Brouthers and Deacon White.
While some individual baseball player cards had been issued prior to 1887 in newspaper and magazine promotions, the Old Judge set was unique in that it marked the first time a major company mass produced sets of multiple unique cards solely as a promotional vehicle for a product. As such, the 1887 N172 set is widely credited with inventing the modern format for trading cards, collectors, and the broader sports card industry that would follow.
Beyond introducing the concept of sets and collecting, the 1887 cards were also significant because they preserved images and statistical information about some of baseball’s earliest stars from the formative years of professional leagues in the 1880s. Tim Keefe was one of the first truly dominant pitchers, leading the National League in wins five times. Dan Brouthers was a slugging first baseman who still ranks among the all-time leaders in career home runs more than a century after his retirement. Charley Jones and Jim O’Rourke were stalwarts for championship clubs in the American Association. By featuring these pioneering players very early in the collection of baseball statistics, the 1887 cards helped ensure some historical documentation of the game’s 19th century period survived as interest in the sport grew exponentially in later decades.
From a condition perspective, the fragility of the thin cardboard stock used for the 1887 cards means very few survived in high grades over 135 years. It’s estimated fewer than 50 examples still exist in collectible condition today. In the most pristine state with sharp images and no creasing, folding or surface wear, a 1887 N172 Old Judge in what would be considered mint condition would be worth millions of dollars. Even well-worn examples that still retain identifiable images continue to attract five and six figure prices from enthusiastic collectors.
Despite their rarity and value, the enduring appeal of the 1887 cards is as an important historical artifact of the nascent relationship between baseball, advertising and collecting during a key period of the game’s development. By featuring stars from the formative years of professional leagues, the set helped preserve some of the earliest photographic images and statistics from baseball’s pioneer era. Most significantly, by introducing the novel concept of trading cards issued as a product promotion, the N172 set established a model that would be endlessly copied and expanded upon in the ensuing decades as baseball rose to become America’s national pastime.
In the 130+ years since that first seminal 1887 release, the sports card collecting landscape has grown into a multi-billion dollar international industry. From the elaborate premium sets created by Upper Deck and Topps in modern times to the vintage cardboard of stars from the past, the business is a diverse collecting universe sustained by nostalgia and fueled by new discoveries and record-setting sales. Yet through it all, the humble pioneer creation of the 1887 Old Judge set remains revered as the true starting point—a seminal release that introduced two distinctly American pastimes: baseball on the field and the baseball card hobby that would follow it. That auspicious beginning in a single, 7-card series over a century ago grew to represent so much more. From a historical perspective, the N172 set serves as an iconic reminder of the inauspicious roots from which today’s sports memorabilia industry grew to become a globally significant merchandise sector of its own.
