1887 N284 Buchner Gold Coin

Series 1 - Charlie Bastian	Series 2 - Dave Foutz	Series 3 - Old Hoss Radbourn (Hands Above Waist)

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Packaged inside pouches of Gold Coin chewing tobacco, these cards were commissioned by D. Buchner & Company in 1887. 143 cards feature baseball players, but the set as catalogued by Jefferson Burdick has over 300 cards and features fire and police captains (which was a product of Buchner advertising calling itself the "Finest and Bravest" tobacco), actors and jockeys as well. In all, there are 115 baseball players featured; 13 of those are in the Hall of Fame.

At three inches tall and 1 3/4 inches wide, N284s are slightly larger than the Old Judge, Allen & Ginter and Goodwin Champion cards issued around the same time. The cards are crude color drawings that don't often resemble the players they claim to depict. Many of the players "share" poses -- 17 in all throughout the set -- with other players, often with a mustache or different uniform drawn in. The player's last name, team city and position are listed on the card. Backs feature an advertisement for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco and remind the owner to save the wrappers. There are three different back statements, which are shown below.

Though many collectors enjoy the fact that Buchner Gold Coin cards are over 100 years old and depict the game as it was played in the 19th century, the crude drawings and the fact that the cards don't do a great job of showing the players have kept their values down. On the other hand, almost all of the bigger stars of the era are part of this set. They're not cheap, but they can be had for a great value when compared with other N-series tobacco cards.

Buchner released its set over three separate series. The first series was mainly generic poses. Second series cards feature 14 members of the St. Louis Browns and their owner Chris Von Der Ahe. Third series cards are more lifelike. Examples from all three series are shown above. Players are from both major leagues that year (National League and American Association) and one "minor" league (Northwestern League). Von Der Ahe's card makes him the only owner as well as the only portrait.

Many of the players shown have two different poses (and John M. Ward has three). The checklist below describes the differences. Several players in the set also have their names misspelled; the checklist spells their last names the way they are shown on the card. The checklist only names the baseball players featured in the set.

Back Design 1	Back Design 2	Back Design 3

1887 N284 Buchner Gold Coin

(1) Ed Andrews (hands at neck)
(2) Ed Andrews (hands waist high)
(3) Cap Anson (hands outstretched)
(4) Cap Anson (left hand on hip)
(5) Tug Arundel
(6) Sam Barkley (Pittsburg)
(7) Sam Barkley (St Louis)
(8) Charley Bassett
(9) Charlie Bastian
(10) Ed Beecher
(11) Charlie Bennett
(12) Henry Boyle
(13) Dan Brouthers (hands outstretched)
(14) Dan Brouthers (with bat)
(15) Tom Brown
(16) Jack Burdock
(17) Oyster Burns (Baltimore)
(18) Tom Burns (Chicago)
(19) Doc Bushong
(20) Tom Cahill
(21) Cliff Carroll (Washington)
(22) Fred Carroll (Pittsburg)
(23) Bob Carruthers
(24) Dan Casey
(25) John Clarkson (ball at chest)
(26) John Clarkson (arm outstretched)
(27) Jack Clements
(28) John Coleman
(29) Charles Comiskey
(30) Roger Connor (hands outstretched)
(31) Roger Connor (hands outstretched, face level)
(32) Corbett
(33) Sam Craig
(34) Sam Crane
(35) Crowley
(36) Ed Cushmann
(37) Ed Dailey
(38) Con Daley
(39) Pat Deasley 
(40) Jerry Denny (hands on knees)
(41) Jerry Denny (hands on thighs)
(42) Jim Donnelly 
(43) Jim Donohue
(44) Mike Dorgan (right field)
(45) Mike Dorgan (batter)
(46) Sure Shot Dunlap
(47) Dude Esterbrook
(48) Buck Ewing (ready to tag)
(49) Buck Ewing (hands at neck)
(50) Sid Farrar
(51) Jack Farrell (ready to tag)
(52) Jack Farrell (hands at knees)
(53) Charlie Ferguson
(54) Silver Flint
(55) Jim Fogerty
(56) Tom Forster
(57) Dave Foutz
(58) Chris Fulmer
(59) Joe Gerhardt
(60) Charlie Getzein
(61) Pete Gillespie (left field)
(62) Pete Gillespie (batter)
(63) Barney Gilligan
(64) Jack Glasscock (fielding grounder)
(65) Jack Glasscock (hands on knees)
(66) Will Gleason
(67) Piano Legs Gore
(68) Frank Hankinson
(69) Ned Hanlon
(70) Hart
(71) Egyptian Healy
(72) Paul Hines (center field)
(73) Paul Hines (batter)
(74) Joe Hornung
(75) Cutrate Irwin
(76) Dick Johnston
(77) Tim Keefe (right arm outstretched)
(78) Tim Keefe (arm outstretched)
(79) King Kelly (right field)
(80) King Kelly (catcher)
(81) Kennedy
(82) Matt Kilroy
(83) Arlie Latham
(84) Jimmy Manning
(85) Bill McClellan
(86) Jim McCormick
(87) Jack McGeachy
(88) Jumbo McGinnis
(89) George Meyers
(90) Doggie Miller
(91) John Morrill (hands outstretched)
(92) John Morrill (hands at neck)
(93) Tom Morrissy
(94) Joe Mulvey (hands on knees)
(95) Joe Mulvey (hands above head)
(96) Al Myers
(97) Candy Nelson
(98) Nick Nichol
(99) Billy O'Brien
(100) Tip O'Neil
(101) Jim O'Rourke (hands cupped)
(102) Jim O'Rourke (hands on thighs)
(103) Dave Orr
(104) Jimmy Peoples
(105) Fred Pfeffer
(106) Bill Phillips
(107) Mark Polhemus
(108) Henry Porter
(109) Blondie Purcell
(110) Old Hoss Radbourn (hands at chest)
(111) Old Hoss Radbourn (hands above waist)
(112) Danny Richardson (New York, hands at knees)
(113) Danny Richardson (New York, foot on base)
(114) Hardy Richardson (Detroit, hands at right shoulder)
(115) Hardy Richardson (Detroit, hands above head)
(116) Yank Robinson
(117) George Rooks
(118) Chief Rosemann
(119) Jimmy Ryan
(120) Emmett Seery (hands at right shoulder)
(121) Emmett Seery (hands outstretched)
(122) Otto Shomberg
(123) Pap Smith
(124) Joe Strauss
(125) Danny Sullivan
(126) Marty Sullivan
(127) Billy Sunday
(128) Ezra Sutton
(129) Sam Thompson (hand at belt)
(130) Sam Thompson (hand chest high)
(131) Chris von der Ahe
(132) John Montgomery Ward (fielding grounder)
(133) John Montgomery Ward (hands by knee)
(134) John Montgomery Ward (hands on knees)
(135) Curt Welch
(136) Deacon White
(137) Art Whitney (Pittsburg)
(138) Grasshopper Whitney (Washington)
(139) Ned Williamson (fielding grounder)
(140) Ned Williamson (hands at chest)
(141) Medoc Wise
(142) Dandy Wood (hands at right shoulder)
(143) Dandy Wood (stealing base)