We are one of Britain's foremost public auctioneers of Cigarette and Trade cards. Our six sales each year contain collections and dealers’ stocks offered intact, as will as ranges and sets of individual manufacturers, both British and foreign and rare type cards.

Public auctions of postcards, cigarette and trade cards, autographs and printed ephemera are held four times a year. The dates of our 2010 sales are as follows: June 9th, September 1st, December 1st.

Our next general public auction of Cigarette & Trade Cards will be held at the Court House, Warwick, on Wednesday 9th June 2010, starting at 10.30 am. The online catalogue will be available approximately 3 weeks before the sale. To view the online catalogue, once it is uploaded and place bids on items in the sale click here. To download a catalogue (without illustrations) click here.

The sales take place at the Court House, Jury Street, Warwick, in the ballroom, which is on the first floor. The building has a lift. The entrance to the building is in Castle Street and the nearest car park is in New Street. The nearest railway station is Warwick Town and the nearest major international airport is Birmingham. For directions please visit our How to Find Us page.

Public viewing for all of our auctions is held at our own premises, the sales being too large to transport to the auction venue. Account settlement and lot allocation takes place progressively at our premises whilst the auction continues, so as soon as the section which interests you has been knocked down, you can pay and collect your lots without waiting for the end of the sale.

Public viewing for this sale is available at our offices on the following dates:

• Friday 4th June from 09.00 – 17.00
• Monday 7th June from 09.00 – 17.00
• Tuesday 8th June from 09.00 - 17.00
• Wednesday 9th June from 08.00 onwards

There is no need to attend an auction in person, as commission bids can be placed in advance of the sale via our online facility, or by telephone, mail, fax or e-mail. For further details please visit our Online Catalogue.

If you would like to receive a free sample printed catalogue, or alternatively to apply for a catalogue subscription, please complete our catalogue enquiry form. However please remember that the printed catalogue contains far fewer illustrations of lots than the online catalogue.

Contemplating Selling?

Are you thinking of selling your entire collection or part of it? Would you like us to value it and give you advise on how best to market it? Visit our Marketing Your Collection page.

Trade Cards Outperform Estimates

The Warwick and Warwick auction held on March 3rd contained an impressive section of trade cards. Many of the sets offered singly outperformed their pre-sale estimates by large margins. Typical were the following results:

• Cadbury 1914 Shadows Series set £126;
• Calvert 1954 Dan Dare Series set ££69;
• Fry 1912 Birds and Poultry set less 6 £63;
• Fry 1912 Birds and their Eggs set ££48;
• Huntly & Palmers 1900 Wonders of the World set £172;

• Maynards 1921 Girl Guide Series set £241;

• Slade & Bullock 1925 Science and Skills Series set £264 (double estimate);
• Typhoo 1914 British Birds and their Eggs set less 1 £138;
• Whitbread 1950 Inn Signs, 2nd series (metal) set £98.

Silks were popular in the cigarette card section. The Wix 1934 Kensitas Flowers P size was represented by a set of the plain backs, which made £471 and a set of the printed backs which made £529.

The Phillips 1921 Birds silk set exceeded the catalogue quote of £250, by realising £253.

The Wills Irish sets are scarcer than you would think by looking at their catalogue listings and this was borne out by the realisations:

• Wills 1924 Irish Beauty Spots (catalogued £110) realised £92;
• Wills 1924 Irish Holiday Resorts (catalogued £110) realised £103;
• Wills 1926 Irish Rugby Internationals (catalogued £275) realised £103;
• Wills 1927 Hurlers (Eire) set (catalogued £90) realised £48;
• Wills 1936 Irish Sportsmen (catalogued £200) realised £92.

Other cigarette card sets, in good condition, to realise good prices were as follows:

• Churchman 1928 Famous Golfers, 2nd set, L, £299;
• Churchman 1931 Sporting Celebrities £103;

• Cope 1899 Beauties, playing card inset, £920;
• Gallaher 1928 Footballers, 1 – 50 and 51 – 100, £184;
• Golds 1914 Motor Cycle Series £402;
• Hill 1901 Battleships and Crests £356;
• Lambert & Butler 1931 Footballers 1930-1 £103;
• Mitchell 1903 Scottish Clans Series £241;
• Murray 1929 Cinema Scenes £80;
• Patteiouex 1929 Dirt Track Riders £172;
• Taddy 1912 British Medals and Ribbons £264;

• Wills 1902 Football Series £437;
• Wills Overseas Police of the World £161.

Churchman’s Footballers Score!

The 2 lots topping the realisations for individual sets in the December 2009 auction were the Churchman 1914 Footballers. The brown series was represented by 44 of the 50 cards issued, all in good condition. The estimate for this part set was £500 and the realisation was a massive £977. The coloured set was complete and again in good condition. Estimated at £320, it realised £690.

Other sets, in good condition, yielding better than estimate results were as follows:

• Ardath 1936 PhotocardsD, Scots Football Teams, £253 (catalogued £200);
• Carreras 1916 Women on War Work, £195;
• Edwards Ringer & Bigg 1908 Dogs Series, both Exmoor Hunt and Klondyke sets, £195;
• Gallaher 1910 Association Football Club Colours (3 creased), £391;
• Golds 1914 Motor Cycle Series, numbered, mixed blue and grey backs, £494;
• Lambert & Butler 1908 Motors, £322;
• Pattreiouex 1930 Celebrities in Sport, £287;
• Player 1895 Castles, Abbeys, without border (3 small faults), £207;
• Player 1898 England’s Military Heroes, narrow, descriptive back 3 trivial faults), £322;
• Player 1899 Cabinet Size Pictures, green front, printed back, Nelson and Kitchener, £149;
• Player 1900 Famous Authors and Poets, narrow, £172;
• Player 1927-9 Irish Place Names, 1st and 2nd, £80;
• Player 1935 Famous Irish Greyhounds, £161;
• Player (Overseas) 1923 Bonzo Dogs, £80;

• Smith 1902 Champions of Sport, blue back, cricketers Palairet, Hirst, Saunders and Jones and golfer Hilton, £345;
• Smith 1925 Holiday Resorts, £138;
• Taddy 1912 British Medals and Decorations, steel blue backs (2 small faults), £299;
• Westminster 1922 Women of All Nations, £115;
• Wills (Australia) 1913 Royal Mail, Capstan, £195 (catalogued £180);

• Wills (Australia) 1933 Footballers 1933, £287;
• American Tobacco 1901 Actresses, blue back, 274/300, £540;
• B.A.T. 1927 Who’s Who in Sport, £209 (catalogued £150);
• B.A.T. 1930 Types of North American Indians (1 trivial corner crease), £207.

The auction contained a significant section of trade cards offered as individual sets. The following results were obtained:

• John Filshill 1924 Birds and their Eggs (2 creased), £126;
• Fry 1906 Days of Nelson, £138;
• Scottish Widows’ Fund 1910-13 Advertisement Bookmarks, Months of the Year set less August (2 with faults), £92;
• Singer 1898 Beauties, p.c. inset, £391;
• Somportex 1966 Film Scene Series, James Bond 007, £230;
• Spratts 1926 Champion Dogs (less one), £207.

Page Woodcock Trade Set Realises more than Catalogue Value

The Warwick and Warwick October 14th auction contained a large number of sets offered individually. All were in good condition and excellent results ensued.

Amongst the trade card sets, the best result was the £661 paid for the Page Woodcock 1902 Humorous Sketches by Tom Browne set, which is catalogued by Murray at only £450.

Other trade sets which sold well were as follows:

• Ford Motor Co. 1955 Major Farming £150;
• Fry 1912 Scout Series £184;
• Thomas Holloway 1900 Pictorial History of the Sports and Pastimes of All Nations £241;

• Home & Colonial 1916 War Pictures £345;
• Whitbread 1973 Inn Signs, Kent £103;
• Whitbread 1973 Inn Signs, Marlow and 1974 London set of 10 £125;
• Whitbread 1974 Inn Signs, Isle of Wight £109.

The best result for a single set in the British cigarette cards section was achieved by the C.W.S. 1912 Boy Scouts series 2 set, which made £552, despite having one missing. Other results for sets in good condition were as follows:

• Adkin 1914 Sporting Cups and Trophies £241;
• Churchman 1911 A Tour Round the World £161;
• Churchman 1912 Flags and Funnels £241;
• Cohen Weenen 1926 Cricketers £184;
• C.W.S. Co-Operative Buildings and Works £276;
• Gallaher 1909 Latest Actresses, black and white, £299;
• Societe Job 1925 British Lighthouses £138;
• Lambert & Butler 1901 Conundrums, green back, £345;
• Martins 1916 V.C. Heroes £471;
• Phillips 1908 Indian Series £161;
• Player 1895 Castles Abbeys, without border, £264;
• Smith 1911 Famous Explorers £380;
• Thomson & Porteous1916 V.C. Heroes, firm’s name at bottom, £322;
• Will 1898 Double Meaning, with PC inset, £276;
• Wills (Australia) 1907 A Tour Round the World, blue caption, £195;
• Wills (Overseas) 1908 Girls of All Nations £230.

The best result amongst the foreign individual sets on offer was £632 realised by the Calcutta Cigarette Co. 1906 Actresses blue front set, which has a current catalogue value of £625.

High Quality Early American Sets Sell Well

The Warwick and Warwick sale held on August 12th contained a large selection of rare American sets, from the turn of the century, in good condition. These sets are rarely offered in this country in such good condition and were well appreciated by the bidders. The following realisations were recorded:

Allen & Ginter:

• 1887 Arms of All Nations (4 with slight creases) £460;
• 1888 City Flags £425;
• 1888 Pirates of the Spanish Main, 15 different, £391;
• 1888 Racing Colours of the World, with borders, £425;

• 1888 The World’s Beauties, Second Series, £552;
• 1889 Fish from American Waters (2 with slight staining) £380;
• 1889 Game Birds £471;
• 1890 Flags of All Nations, Second Series (4 with slight faults to reverse) £356;
• American Tobacco 1900 Military Uniforms C, with green net back, £218;

Duke:

• 1888 Scenes of Perilous Occupations £552;
• 1889 Shadows £333;
• 1889 The Terrors of America and their Doings £460;

Kimball:

• 1888 Butterflies, 30 different, £437;

• 1889 Beautiful Bathers £862;

• 1889 Fancy Bathers £776;
• Kinney Bros. 1888 Butterflies of the World, gold, £345;
• National Cigarette and Tobacco Co. 1890 National Types (Sailor Girls) (1 creased) £345;
• S. W. Venable Tobacco 1888 Actresses, 36 different (2 with slight faults) £529.

British cigarette manufacturers were also well represented in the sale and the following results were recorded for sets in good condition:

• Cohen Weenen 1903 Proverbs (3 slightly trimmed) £241;
• Cohen Weenen 1908 Football Captains 1907-8, 30 different, £253;
• C.W.S. 1910 Parrot Series (1 creased and 2 with trivial blemishes) £552;

• Faulkner 1900 Our Colonial Troops, Grenadier (3 with minor faults) £690;
• Gallaher 1910 Association Football Club Colours £506;
• Hignett 1933 A.F.C. Nicknames £287;
• Hill 1934 Sports £195;
• Millhoff 1928 Famous Golfers £310;
• Ogden 1905 Shakespeare, unnumbered, £299;
• Pattreiouex 1929 Dirt Track Riders £276;
• Player 1897-8 England’s Naval Heroes, mixed narrow set, £402;
• Raymond Revuebar 1960 Striptease Actresses £322;
• E. Robinson 1897 Beauties £437;
• Rutter 1905 Comic Phrases £529;
• Smith 1913 Battlefieds of Great Britain £471;

• Smith 1922 Football Club Records £575;
• Taddy 1901 V.C. Heroes, 21 – 40, £552;

• Taddy 1907 County Cricketers, 45 different (2 with faults), £1,322;
• Wills 1901 Sports of All Nations £333.

The best result amongst the trade cards was:

• Sweetacre 1933 Sports Champions (occasional small fault, but Bobby Jones fine) £345.

Warwick and Warwick’s next sale, on October 14th contains a further selection of rare British and American sets, in good condition.

Quality Sets sell a Quality Prices

The June 2009 auction was well stocked with rare and desirable, early cigarette card sets, both British and foreign, all in good condition, which were well received by an appreciative auction room. Excellent results were achieved across the board and the following results were typical.

• Charlesworth & Austin 1900 Beauties (2 creased), £460
• Cohen Weenen 1902 Fiscal Phrases, £276
• Cohen Weenen 1912 Famous Boxers, green backs, £218
• Cope 1900 Characters from Scott, £356
• Cope 1915 Boxers 1-25 (less 1) and 25-50, £425

• Goodbody 1900 Eminent Actresses, name at bottom, £471
• Hall 1892 Actresses, without borders, without Hall on front, £276

• Hudden 1903 Types of Smokers, £575
• Ogden 1901 Victoria Cross Heroes, £414
• Phillips 1908 Territorial Series, Motors backs, £345
• Player 1896 Gallery of Beauty Series, £690
• Player 1900 Famous Authors and Poets, wide, £345
• Redford 1908 Stage Artistes of the Day, £414
• Richmond Cavendish 1900 Medals £356
• John Sinclair 1914 World’s Coinage, £460
• Taddy 1899 Actresses with Flowers (1 creased), £747

• Taddy 1899 Natives of the World, £834
• Wills 1898 Actresses, brown backs, P.C. inset, £563
• Woods 1902 Types of Volunteer and Yeomanry £540

The sale was rich in American sets, all in good condition. The following results were achieved.

• Allen & Ginter 1888 Celebrated American Indian Chiefs, £834
• Allen & Ginter 1888 Parasol Drill (4 with slight faults), £448
• Allen & Ginter 1891 Fruits £632
• Duke 1888 Fishers and Fish (1 creased), £345
• Duke 1890 Yacht Colours of the World, £437
• Goodwin & Co 1890 Dogs of the World, £471
• Kimball 1895 Beauties, P.C. inset (1 creased), £862
• Kinney Bros. 1889 Surf Beauties, £719
• Moore & Calvi 1890 Beauties, P.C. inset, set 3, £632

The trade cards section also featured rare items from Typhoo, in good condition.

• Typhoo 1933 Calendar for 1934 (Dogs), 13 / 25 (4 with minor faults), catalogued £390, realised £483.
• Typhoo 1935 Calendar for 1936 set, catalogued £350, realised £264.

A further selection of rare early sets, in good condition, is to be offered in our August auction.

Excellent Results for Scarce Material

Our April 8th 2009 sale included a number of scarce sets and part sets, in good condition, all of which sold for figures in excess of pre-sale estimates.

• Bell 1901 Colonial Series set, estimated £400, realised £604.
• Carreras 1916 Women on War Work set, estimated £130, realised £184.
• Churchman 1903 Beauties “FECKSA”, 14 different, estimated £600, realised £661.
• Churchman 1921 Rivers and Broads set, estimated £110, realised £230.
• Churchman 1931 Prominent Golfers set, estimated £320, realised £471.
• Dobson 1917 The European War Series set, estimated £130, realised £184.
• Faulkner 1929 Angling set, estimated £80, realised ££172.

• Lees 1912 Northampton Town Football Club, 19 different, estimated £1,100, realised £1,897.
• Smith 1917 Football Club Records set, estimated £30, realised £379.
• Taddy 1901 Boer Leaders, 19 different, estimated £170, realised £368.
• Taddy 1908 Territorial Regiments set, estimated £240, realised £391.
• Wills 1931 Lawn Tennis 1931 set, estimated £75, realised £138.
• Wills Scissors 1912 Indian Regiments Series set, estimated £160, realised £241.
• B.A.T. Eagle Bird Cigarettes 1911 Cock Fighting set, estimated £100, realised £230.

The trade cards section saw good results for individual sets also. The following results were obtained for sets in good condition.

• A & BC Gum 1969 Star Treck set, estimated £150, realised £218.
• Carr’s Biscuits 1967 Sports – Soccer Cards Series set, estimated £44, realised £126.
• Fry 1906 Days of Nelson set, estimated ££120, realised £172.

Wills Overseas 1914 Miniatures Sell

Warwick and Warwick’s December 10th auction contained fewer individual sets than normal, but the number of quality collections on offer made up for this. The best result for an individual set was £506 realised by the Wills Overseas 1914 Miniatures (metal) set. A further good result for Wills Overseas sets was the £126 realised for the 1912 Animals and Birds with title set. Two Wills 1893 Advertisement Cards, with 7 brands back, sold for £345 and the undercatalogued set, Pattriouex 1930 Railway Posters by Famous Artists, made £287.

A Smith 1897 Advertisement Card (Handbook no. 11), with trivial rubbing at base, estimated £50, realised £69.

Shipping was as popular as ever; Churchman 1915 Silhouettes of Warships set made £150; Lambert & Butler (Overseas) 1924 Merchant Ships of the World set made £69; Mitchell 1925 River and Coastal Steamers set made £103 and Wills 1895 Ships set, without “Wills” on front, made £288.

Amongst the trade cards on offer, a Whitbread 1958 The Britannia Inn, with printed back, realised £39. This card with the printed back was only issued to customers personally attending the Brussels 1958 Universal and International Exhibition and is rarer than the plain back version.

Rare Johnston Cards make £460 each.

The two cards from the only series known, issued by the small Carlisle cigarette manufacturer, Johnston, which were offered in the October 8th Wawick and Warwick auction, realised £460 each. The series is currently referred to in the literature as British Views, but it would seem that a more appropriate name for the set is Carlisle Views, as these two additional cards both feature Carlisle landmarks, namely Carlisle Cathedral and The Court Houses. This now brings the number of cards discovered from this set up to 3 and the hunt is on to find further cards. We offered the other known card, Carlisle Castle, in our November 2004 auction, where it realised £345 and it was only as a result of seeing the report of this auction sale that the two additional cards came to light.

An astute collector, from over the border in nearby Scotland, bought the two additional cards in a book auction, in Carlisle. A report of the fact that they were to be reoffered in a specialised cigarette card sale by auctioneers Warwick and Warwick appeared in a local Carlisle paper. The original owner of the 2 cards who had vended them in the book auction for a modest amount read this report. Immediately after the auction she contacted Colin Such, the Warwick and Warwick cigarette card expert, to ask about the realisation. She was delighted that her cards had been recognised for what they were and was pleased that the new owner would proudly display them as the rarest cards in his collection. She was, quite naturally, disappointed that she had not benefited financially but what upset her more was the fact that she had shown them to a total of 3 people in the Carlisle area who professed to having a knowledge of cigarette cards and all 3, including the book auctioneers, had dismissed them as unimportant and without value. This clearly demonstrates the advisability of using specialist auctioneers when selling a collection of cigarette cards.

For further information about these rare cards please visit our Articles Library page.

Rare Berry Cards the Star Performers

Only 20 cards were ever issued by the small cigarette manufacturing company, Berry of London, and those that appear on the market invariably command high prices. Such was the case when we offered 4 different cards from the series London Views, in our August 13th 2008 auction. Currently the cards are catalogued by Murray at £200 each and the 4 in the sale realised £748.

Other rare cards to sell at high percentages of catalogue prices included Drapkin and Millhoff 1902 Colonial Troops. 5 cards were on offer, including 2 with trivial creases. Despite this they still achieved £207 against a catalogue quote of £250.

Taddy sets were well represented and the following results were recorded for sets without faults:

• 1902 Coronation Series £161;
• 1908 Territorial Regiments £333;
• 1912 British Medals and Ribbons £253;
• 1913 Heraldry Series £184;
• 1915 Honours and Ribbons (3 creased) £345.

Two complete sets of W. H. & J. Woods 1936 Modern Motor Cars realised £138 each and Martins 1916 V.C. Heroes set made £230.

Amongst the trade cards section, Sanders Bros. 1925 Birds, Pigeons and Rabbits set achieved £86 and Spratts 1935 British Birds Series set made £322. The rare R.S.P.C.A. Pick-a-Picture Booklet, containing a set of 16 animals, published by courtesy of Brooke Bond Tea, made £80, despite its cover being a trifle soiled and creased.

Wills 1896 Animals and Birds in Fancy Costume

• Warwick and Warwick’s June 18th 2008 sale included a good range of more unusual sets. The best realisation for a single set was recorded for Wills 1896 Animals and Birds in Fancy Costume, in variable condition, including 30 in above average condition, which realised £891.

Other significant results for sets in good condition were as follows:

• Baker 1899 Beauties of All Nations (A.Baker) £149;
• Churchman 1913 Sectional Cycling Map £184;

• Hudden 1903 Types of Smokers £632;
• Lambert & Butler1908 Motors £276;
• Lambert & Butler Overseas 1908 Actors and Actresses £126;

• Player 1900 Military Series £632;
• Roberts 1902 Colonial Troops (32/50) £379;
• Smith 1913 Battlefields of Great Britain £356;
• Smith 1924 Prominent Rugby Players £172;

• Wills1901 Sports of All Nations £356;
• Fry 1907 China and Porcelain £115;
• Fry 1913 With Captain Scott at the South Pole £138.
• Ogden Guinea Gold were represented by a collection of approximately 750 1899 – 1900 Actresses, apparently all different and unchecked for better bases. Estimated at £250, it realised £345. A further collection of the General Interest series, with a catalogue value of £1,086, estimated at £300, made £448.