What is the rarest cigarette card in the world?

[loose cannon]

I'm a new collector of cigarette cards. I was wondering what the rarest card is in the cigarette card collecting world? What's the rarest one in your collection?

Tim

[IanSammel]

Hi Tim,
it depends on exactly what you mean by rare.  Unknown cards are discovered every now and again.  If the card was unknown before then presumably the new card will be the only one known.  Even rarer is this one:
http://www.csgb.co.uk/SiteFiles/Reference/Reference/MfrIndex/MfrsF/Fralira/KWH/kwh.htm
of which no cards are known.  However such sets are not necessarily very sought after.
The rarest one that is generally known is probably this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T206_Honus_Wagner
last sold for $2.8 million.

[loose cannon]

Wow! so there are a few millionaire card collectors about. You wouldn't stand much of a chance if you got into a battle with one of them at an auction...

I suppose the Franz Lindner one would be considered 'extinct' rather than rare 

What would you consider to be the rarest card or set available to the average collector who doesn't have a spare million or two?

Welcome to the site by the way.

Tim

[IanSammel]

Hi Tim,
Don't confuse rare with expensive.  There are sets around which are much sought-after and are expensive although they are not particularly scarce.  On the other hand there are rare sets which are quite cheap.  Take for example this card:
http://www.csgb.co.uk/SiteFiles/Reference/Reference/MfrIndex/MfrsA/Alro/Filmstars/filmstars.htm
The set was uncatalogued until I found this card.  Possibly this is the only copy of this card around.  Yet I paid only a few pence for it.  Making discoveries like that is part of the fun of collecting cards.
If we're talking about cards which are catalogued and available from dealers, then what's "available" will depend on your budget.  A set of Taddy's Clowns will set you back the price of a car rather than a flat in Kensington.  Some of the early Wills' advertizing cards are available for a few hundred pounds each.  There are any number of early sets around such as Wills' 1896 Cricketers or Allen and Ginters Great Generals 1886, depending on your interests (sorry I haven't got a current price list here to give you exact  prices).  Have a look through Murray's catalogue and take your choice.

[admin]

I have a not quite complete set of Choco Wafer 'Filmstar' by De Beukelaer Watford in a collectors' album, similar format but obviously not quite the same as your Otto Wallburg card. The set's a mixture of German and American film stars from the thirties (I think). Highly interesting but I would imagine not quite as rare as your card. I did have a look to see whether Otto Wallburg was included but he's not in that set.

[Collector Colin]

I daresay this isn't the rarest but it's one of a set of twelve cricket and football women from 1897 - an incomplete set of nine of these sold for £1553 a few years ago.

Considering the style of dress women were accustomed to wearing at the period the cards were published these cards featuring women in tight fitting costumes must have been considered rather racy at the time.

[London Cigarette Card Company]

This maybe not the rarest, but definitely worth a mention

"Early in 2007, a world record price was paid in America for a single card - $2,350,000, or roughly equivalent to around £1,200,000. This card was sold later on in the year for another world record price $2,800,000 (approximately £1,500,000) The card in question featured Honus Wagner, one of the great names in U.S. baseball at the turn of the 20th century. Wagner was a dedicated non-smoker and objected when America's biggest tobacco corporation planned to picture him on a cigarette card without his permission. Threats of legal action prevented its release, but a few slipped out, and it was one of these that stunned the collecting world when it was auctioned."

[boxingcardman]

Actually, Wagner didn't threaten legal action.  The company solicited legal releases from the players in return for a nominal payment.  Wagner refused because he did not want his image used with cigarettes.  Since the release had not been obtained, the company inadvertently issued some of his cards then pulled the issue.  Approximately 50 specimens are known.  The really expensive one was cut from a partial uncut sheet in the 1980s then encapsulated by a third party grading service.  It then sold to various rich people with more money than anyone should have, including hockey legend Wayne Gretzky in partnership with his former employer, convicted felon Bruce McNall.  Since that time the card has been the subject of a book [called "The Card"] and has resold several times.  

Returning to the initial topic, there are many cards rarer than the Wagner but none have the notoriety it has achieved.  Sticking just with baseball cards, any card from any of the following issues as catalogued in the American Card Catalog would be rarer than the T206 Wagner: T214 Victory Tobacco, T215 Red Cross Tobacco, T215 Pirates Cigarettes, T216 Mino Tobacco or Virginia Extra Tobacco, T231 Fans Cigarettes.  Estimated populations on the cards range from a few examples of each subject to only one known example of each subject for some of them [like T231] with only a few cards from the issue known.  In boxing there are many issues both American and worldwide that are rarer than the Wagner.  For example: T218 Tolstoi, T219 Red Cross, T229 Kopec Cigarettes, Romeo y Julieta Cigarettes [Cuba], Turquino Cigarettes [Cuba], Bigott Cigarettes [Venezuela], etc.  

[Smokin]

That's some impressive information, Boxingcardman. I think most people are under the impression that the Wagner card is the rarest. I presume the other cards you mention would be more valuable than the Wagner if they came on to the market?

[bri.d]

ogdens guinia gold  no 765  would definitley be up there with the mega rare cards only 8 known

[Collector Colin]

Have you got one in your collection Bri? you seem to be a bit of an expert on Guinea Golds.

[bri.d]

Have you got one in your collection Bri? you seem to be a bit of an expert on Guinea Golds.

no im know expert know a bit. whish i did have one

[Ogdenscards]

Desirability must also be considered when answering this question The Wagner card is the most publicized and that particular card is the best known condition wise.

I collect Ogden's and have been looking for some cards for 10 years and they are cataloged at £3.00.
There are some cards that are presumed to exist but have not been found yet. So as one person mentioned, an unrecorded or unfound card by its very nature must be some of the rarest cards in the world. What is the most expensive is a different question.

If any one does have interesting Ogden's cards would please get in touch
Regards David
 

[Steve F]

Why do collectors relate rarity to value! My passion for Cricket Card collecting and the population that share this interest will never reach the proportions and investment levels of American Baseball collectors - I contend that rarity never equates to value

I've loaded up my rarest card (Cricket) in the Gallery on this site for all to see, as a case in point. Circa 1902, it advertises the Robert Hurst Boots & Shoe Co. of Melbourne. It is certainly not the most valueable & cost me next to nothing. The card depicts English Cricket great Colin Blythe and is believed to be the only one in existence, with some suggestions that it may have been a sample card for a series that never got produced. It is recorded in Deadman's Guide, but only because the person who owned it for 30 years was a major contributor of Australian Cricket cards to Derek's book when he produced it. It's not in pristine condition, by any stretch of the imagination, but if it is the only one, then it must be rare!

My most valueable would be the Old Judge or Tally Ho cricket cards, or even a few others that aren't recorded in either Deadman's Guide or the U.K. Cartophilic Reference Books which advertise Goblin's 'Merrymints' c1926/27 and include Australian cricketers (Woodfull, Oldfield & Everett) among them! These are accompanied by cards depicting the Duke & Duchess, Carnegie Clarke (Golfer & winner of the USPGA & British Open) and a prize winning Sydney Easter show bull among the ones I have - a very mixed bag!

Cards of a similar unique nature are hard but not impossible to find - the trick is to know what you are looking at and then to be decisive on acquistion - for this you need knowledge and in this realm of collecting - KNOWLEDGE IS EVERTHING - this is the most valueable asset to anybody who collects... 

[fossil]

this is something that seems to bother me with card collecting,
it is rarity, and prices.
it seems as if more emphasis amongst collectors, is how much a card is worth.
if a collector enjoys nhis, or her cards, that is the fun of the hobby, i don't judge the price of my cards, neither the rasrity, but cards that i am interested in.ii don;t even know how much my collection is worth, i don't intend to sell it, but to donate it to the museum, in which i work.
i have much more appreciation of little value sets, than some of my rarer sets.
it often puzzles me, that i have seen rather common sets such as wills garden hints, almost reach full catalouge value, yet a year ago, i purchased a tetleys birds in mint condition for £30.
i have seen a modern set of typhoo wild flowers, i believe valued at two pounds, yet bidding reached £25.
it seems as if when bidders on ebay, find they are outbid, as if an annoyance occurs between two bidders, seem to want the set so much, that they have a moment of madness, and bid outrageous amonts just to get that set of cards, that are mostly of litle value