In continuation of our coverage of the most valuable sports cards of all time (see our recent Baseball and Basketball pieces) in this article we present the Most Valuable Football Cards of all time.

Many older vintage football cards don’t quite get the same level of respect as their baseball counterparts.  Sometimes I wonder why; I guess baseball being America’s past time has led to a sort of lack of attention for older football players.

Because of this, I do believe that vintage football cards offer good value for collectors seeking a good investment opportunity.  The only problem is that I’m not sure what the catalyst would be to help close that gap between older baseball and football cards.

I’m all ears–let me know in the comments if you can envision a scenario in which vintage football cards start to appreciate significantly versus vintage baseball cards.

Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy the following list of the most valuable football cards of all time.  Some of the cards are quite rare, such as the first card on our list (N302 Dunlop) and some are not as rare and are mostly supported by the strong demand for the player and card.

We try to update these lists every year, but if you see something that should be on the list, let me know via email at chris@allvintagecards.com.

Exhibit Baseball Cards were often overlooked by vintage card collectors and little known to newcomers to the hobby.

The over-sized Exhibit cards were produced by the Exhibit Supply Co out of Chicago, with the first set produced in 1921.

The larger ‘postcards’ were sold out of vending machines in arcades and amusement parks and featured not only ball players, but other stars of the day including actors and actresses.

The Exhibit cards have become more popular in recent years, as for vintage collectors, the cards offer a more affordable way to purchase cards of star players during their playing days.

In this piece we take a look at the history and various issuance’s of Exhibit cards, along with examining some of the more valuable Exhibit cards over the years.  We hope you enjoy.

For any stock investors that were active traders during the late 1990’s the mention of the word ‘bubble’ brings back some rather unpleasant memories.

A more recent ‘bubble’ that younger collectors would be more familiar with involves the recent hysteria surrounding Bitcoin and other associated cryptocurrencies. Cards even experienced their own bubble during the early 90’s.

While I’ve advocated that vintage cards can be viewed as a good long term investment for collectors, there are some warning signs that we should all be aware of.

I want to review some of my concerns and alert collector’s to some of my research on the topic.

Note this isn’t meant as a piece to scare collectors into selling their entire collections but something that I think at least warrants a discussion.

I hope you will provide some commentary as to your thoughts on the subject.

I had always been vaguely familiar with the Turkey Red (T3) Tobacco Cabinet cards, but it wasn’t until I had one in my hands that I truly appreciated their beauty.

These over-sized ‘cabinet’ cards feature beautiful full length lithography and were issued as a premium for customers of Turkey Red cigarettes from 1910 through 1911.

The 100 card set is chock full of Hall of Famers, including Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young and Nap Lajoie.

What I found to be the most appealing feature of the set is the fact that the images (for the most part) are identical to their T206 counterparts, yet in a beautiful over-sized lithograph.

The cards are actually scarcer than the T206 and T205 cards, and in my opinion undervalued comparatively.

In this piece, we’ll take a deep dive into the T3 Turkey Reds set, examining the details and history of the cards, along with ways to collect and distinguish from counterfeits on the market.

‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson was one of the best hitters to ever play the game of baseball. He batted over .370 in four different seasons and is third all time in overall batting average.

Babe Ruth named Jackson to his all-time baseball team, as did Ty Cobb.  Jackson hit .408 in 1911, which still marks the sixth-highest single-season total of all time.

Despite his prowess on the field, Jackson was never enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, due to his involvement in the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

While some still argue that Jackson doesn’t deserve to be a Hall of Famer, his baseball cards remain immensely popular.

Shoeless Joe might never make it to the hall, but his old baseball cards will likely remain high desired by vintage collectors.

In this piece, we take a look at Shoeless Joe’s baseball cards from his playing days.  Unfortunately, the majority of his cards are on the scarcer and pricier side, making it a bit tougher for the most cost conscious collectors.

Let’s face it, none of us want to pay full retail price for our vintage cards. Sometimes we don’t have a choice if we’re targeting some of the most in demand and valuable cards in the hobby.

But there are a few ways to save a few bucks, whether it’s utilizing various eBay discounts or cash back deals.

In this guide, we take a closer look at some of the easiest ways you can use to try and amass a killer vintage collection at a discount.

First, we’ll walk through a few methods of saving via online purchases and then we’ll examine some other ideas for striking a good deal.  Enjoy!

The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card is one of the most iconic and valuable cards in the hobby.   A mint condition version of the card sold recently for nearly $3 Million.

It’s not even a rare card, as it was actually double printed by Topps, even despite the fact that thousands of the high series 1952 Topps cards were dumped into the atlantic ocean.

And while it is Mantle’s first official Topps issue it’s not technically his rookie card (that award would go to Mantle’s 1951 Bowman card), although many often refer to it as such.

As with all desirable cards, there exists a fairly prominent counterfeit market trying to dupe vintage collectors into believing their fakes are the real thing.

With this guide, we examine the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card and help collectors in distinguishing a real Mantle from a fake one.

Ted Williams (aka ‘The Splendid Splinter’) was one of baseball’s all-time greats and one of the purest left-handed hitters to play the game.

Even with his career interrupted for three full seasons during World War II and later in his career for duty in the Korean War, Williams amassed 521 home runs with a staggering .344 batting average.  If he hadn’t served in the military, it’s hard to say what Williams might have been capable of.

Today, demand for Williams’ cards is still quite strong among vintage collectors, with his early Bowman and Play Ball rookie cards the most highly desired.

In this piece, I take a look at some of Ted Williams’ rarer and more obscure cards, while examining the population relative to some of his more widely produced cards during the early 1950’s.

The advent of eBay and other card collecting marketplaces has opened up the lines of communication between buyers and sellers, creating a more liquid and transparent card market.

However, with the ease in buying and selling comes a dark and mysterious side of the hobby that continues to infiltrate for sale listings.

Of course, I’m talking about counterfeit cards. Now, this isn’t a new thing, fake baseball cards have been circulating for decades. But, the sophistication of the printing methods will only get better and better as time goes on.

To this point, we’ve put together single card forgery guides, such as the one on spotting fake Michael Jordan rookie cards along with the guide on detecting a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.

This piece will take a closer look at the overall counterfeit market, including telltale signs of spotting a fake vintage card along with other key information to help you all become a more educated collector.

The T206 ‘White Borders’ set is most indeed a ‘Monster’.  The set features 524 cards, which for most collectors is a rather expensive and time consuming adventure.

A lot of vintage collectors I know forgo the actual Monster and head right to building out the T206 Hall of Fame subset.

While it’s still a pricey proposition, it’s a lot easier to hunt down 74 different cards (or 76 including Plank and Wagner) as opposed to the 524 that make up the entire set.

In this piece we examine the nuances of building a Hall of Famers only T206 set while also speaking to someone that’s one card away from completing the challenge.

Hopefully this piece provides the motivation to some of you on the fence!