This 1888 Old Judge Cigarettes N173 cabinet card of William "California" Brown is a very appealing sample from one of the period's most fabled sets. Old Judge issued these cabinet cards of baseball players as premiums to their cigarette brand; a smoker could send 20 coupons and, in exchange, receive a large-format card of his favorite player.

Centering is almost as gorgeous as George Wood's mustache in this beautiful example featuring Philadelphia's left fielder. Corners and edges are consistent with the grade, with only some light soiling - particularly evident at the top border - keeping this card from grading even higher than it already has. This is an extraordinary example seldom seen with this sort of visual appeal.

SGC has only ever graded 3 total examples of this N173 cabinet, with NONE receiving a higher grade than the VG-EX 4 offered here of George Wood.