Auction #8 - June 2021
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/28/2021
The American Tobacco Company (ATC) issued a number of sets to be inserted into packages of cigarettes sold overseas--mostly in the UK--in an effort to combat the newly formed British American Tobacco (BAT) company. The "Tobacco War" era as it was called was one of fierce competition for the cigarette tastes of the UK and European market. To that end, both the ATC and BAT created card sets as inserts into their packages for this lucrative market. Most all of these sets were cataloged by Burdick in the T400-T499 range. Many are quite scarce and are most frequently found still in the UK rather than in the United States. In many instances, artwork was used from previous sets from Kinney, Kimball and other 19th century popular series. In other instances, new artwork was commissioned.
The T419 ATC Playing Cards set can be found in two different formats--with "52" or with "53" subjects on the blue net back at the bottom. The "52" subject backs are tougher to find and that set does not include the Joker card. The same images can be found on the British American Tobacco (BAT) set that is cataloged as T444. This lot of (13) cards are from the T419 ATC Playing Cards set with the "53" Subjects backs. The cards are in VG to EX condition, averaging about VGEX.
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