* 1883 Baines WG Grace Flag type The Babe Ruth of Cricket THIS IS SOLD SEE BETTER on GOTGOTNEED.CO

SOLD. This is 1 of 2 I have sold. I have a 3rd and final exemplar - the best! See GOTGOTNEED.CO to view it.

See supporting photos for provenance : this is one of the three Union Jack W G Grace rookie cards made by Baines, in 1883, known in the world today.

OFFERS PLEASE.  SOLD.

Much commoner, more recent cards make $100,000 and Pele and Babe Ruth rookies have made $1million each so I want serious offers for this rookie card of the most legendary cricketer of all time, one of the very first sports cards made, from 1883.

This is one of the earliest Baines cards ever made, one of two different designs Baines made of Dr. W G Grace, the England cricket captain, in 1883.

Grace is the Babe Ruth of cricket, the Pelé of cricket! This is also a rookie card, one of 2 different Grace rookie cards made by Baines in 1883. It happens to be one of the rarest of all Baines cards.

Celebrating the England captain and cricket legend-in-his-own-lifetime, seen through a keyhole against the Union Jack, this is key to any collection of sporting greats on cards.

Grace was the KEY player for England. The reason Grace, cricket and even Australian cricket cards were all the rage by 1883 was thanks to the first Ashes Test Match, which Australia won in London in autumn 1882. Spirits were fired up! Baines made a stunning collection of octagonal-shaped cricket cards of the Australian team, and a W G Grace card, the key man card, made for the season following the infamous 1st Ashes match at the Oval in autumn 1882, cricket was by far the biggest national story in sport in 1883.

The other early Baines WG Grace card can be seen on this website. It is the equally rare and semi-mythical "Gloucester CCC" card (seen also in my 2nd book - see the inside front-cover flap of that book). Both cards are about as rare as each other 3  and no  more of either are known to exist.

The other Union Jack cards: one is in better condition than this (sold)card and it's in my own collection, and one is in worse condition. So, this is the middle condition card of the three Union Jack Grace Baines cards known. The card on this page is now SOLD.

See the supporting photos of the scrapbook from where this card came. Cards were in a kind of date order, and the 'other' Grace cards were on pages near the front, then spare cards of Grace were included on rear pages, together with the 1888 WN Sharpe Grace (only 1 known, sold).

So, one Grace Union Jack and one Grace Glos CCC card appeared early on, near the start of the book, while others were glued in towards the end, with other doubles of cards also shown earlier in the book.

The better condition card stays with me, unless an offer I cannot refuse comes along one day