A Look Back at Allen & Ginter’s Vintage Flag Cards
Allen & Ginter produced a wide range of trading card sets in the late 1800s, with flags being one of the more prominent themes. Among these, city, state, and international flags were especially popular.
In this article, we’ll focus on the first Allen & Ginter international flag set, cataloged as N9 by Jefferson Burdick. The set consists of 50 unique cards, but collectors have identified a total of 291 different variations. Four of the cards are considered short prints, making them particularly challenging to track down. Additionally, the two American flag cards often command a premium, largely due to strong demand from the predominantly U.S.-based collector community.
While some dedicated collectors aim to own every known variant, major grading companies only recognize any 50 cards as a complete set. Unfortunately, they don’t distinguish between the different variations on their labels.
Table of front & back variations with the total amount of cards
| Front | Back | Total |
| Ginter (no ‘s) | Small Curved Title | 48 |
| Ginter’s | Small Curved Title | 49 |
| Ginter’s | Large Curved Title | 50 |
| Ginter’s | Right Bower | 48 |
| Ginter’s | Straight Title | 48 |
| Virginia Brights | Straight Title | 48 |
Fancy Variants
Fancy Flags add embellishments to the normal cards. See two different examples below featuring Japan and Ireland.
While most of the fancy versions don’t offer a premium value, the Belgium card is a notable exception. It’s considered one of the most iconic Allen & Ginter cards ever produced. We’ll dive deeper into what makes this particular card so special in the section below.
| Standard | Fancy | Standard | Fancy |
 |  |  |  |
Different Front Text
| Ginter’s | No ‘s | Virginia Bright |
 |  |  |
Different Backs
| Small Curved | Large Curved | Straight | Right Bower |
 |  |  |  |
Other Releases that utilize the same design
Several other sets feature the same design as the original N9 Flags of All Nations set.
First up is the T428 set, believed to have been printed roughly 20 years later by the American Tobacco Company (ATC). ATC was formed through the merger of several prominent tobacco brands, including Goodwin Champions, Kinney Brothers, and Allen & Ginter.
The most iconic release from the ATC is the T206 baseball card set. Early 1900s ATC issues were international releases, and the T428s are thought to have been produced for distribution in Australia.
This set includes 48 of the 50 original flags from the N9 release with the Corea and Roumania short prints being replaced by Nova Scotia and San Salvador, flags from the lesser collected N10 set.
| Front | Back |
 |  |
Cabinet Cards
Allen & Ginter also reused the flag designs on cabinet cards — larger-format cards typically printed on or mounted to thick cardboard. These were generally bigger than standard postcards and served as premium display pieces.
The A&G flag cabinet cards either had blank backs or featured the company’s iconic planter logo.
Trade Cards
Trade cards were incredibly popular in the late 1800s. Businesses would often customize existing card designs by adding their branding or advertisements. In baseball card terms, a good comparison would be the 1916 M101 series, which features over 20 different ads on the back, or the T206 set, known for its wide range of tobacco brand backs.
During the 19th century, the lack of strict copyright enforcement allowed companies to freely reuse or repurpose existing card artwork. Unlike the well-documented M101s or T206s, however, these older trade cards from the 1800s haven’t been thoroughly cataloged.
There’s currently no comprehensive resource that tracks all the different advertisers that used these designs.
| H628 Front | H628 Back |
 |  |
| Royal Glue Example Front | Royal Glue Example Back |
 |  |
Modern Allen & Ginter Buybacks
Over the past 20 years, several Allen & Ginter releases have featured original N9 flag cards as special buyback inserts, typically marked as 1/1s. Pictured below is Belgium from the 2007 release.
The Most Expensive 1887 N9 Allen & Ginter
Belgium (Fancy)
This is considered the rarest and most difficult fancy variation to find. It was only issued with the Virginia Brights front and a Straight Title back. What makes it truly iconic? It’s one of the very few cards to prominently feature the Ginter brand advertisement on the front — a rarity among Allen & Ginter releases.
One example in poor condition sold for $189 at the Vintage Nonsports Auctions in October 2023. A nicer copy has sold for $1,242.36 back in 2021.
Corea
This is another of the four key short prints in the set. The Corea card is exclusively found with the Ginter front and either the Small or Large Curved Title back. A PSA 1 sold for $375 back in 2017 on Fanatics Collect
Great Britain Yellow Sun
The third short print is the Great Britain card featuring the distinctive yellow sun design. It’s only available with a Virginia Brights front and a Straight Title back.
Roumania
The Roumania card is only available with the Ginter front and Large Curved back. Despite its lower grade, a PSA 1 with great eye appeal sold for $561 in October 2023.
United States Jack
Also known as the Union Jack, this is one of the two American flags in the set. As it’s not a short print, it appears in six different variants
United States
The United States flag with the bald eagle is one of the most sought-after and expensive flag and eagle cards ever produced. It often sells for 3-5 times more than the Jack card and is available in six different variants.
A PSA 3 sold for $516 in late 2024 on Fanatics Collect
