One of the greatest hitters of the 19th century was James Edward “Tip” O'Neill, a Canadian outfielder who defied the Deadball Era and led the St. Louis Browns to four pennants and the 1886 World Series title. In 1887, he batted .435 (still the second highest in MLB history) with 14 home runs and 123 RBI to win the Triple Crown, establishing eight single-season records that year including hits (225), runs (167), doubles (52) and extra base hits (84).
Offered here is a scarce "Brownie Champ" portrait of Tip O'Neil [sic] from the 1887 N175 Gypsy Queen series – the same size and format as N172 Old Judge, varying only in design and, of course, advertising a different brand of tobacco. This ancient card has remarkable eye appeal on the front where it matters most, including a fairly clean and smooth surface, symmetrical corners, strong print quality and nearly balanced centering. If not for paper loss on the back, this card would grade far better than SGC 10 POOR 1. In fact, it has several more favorable characteristics than the only other Tip O’Neill 1887 N175 Gypsy Queen known to exist according to SGC’s Pop Report, which is graded SGC 70 EX+ 5.5 and sold back in 2005. There are none in the PSA Pop Report.
There has long been confusion with the catalog numbers of the smaller-sized N172 Gypsy Queens (not to be confused with the even rarer larger-sized N175 Gypsy Queens, of which just nine different cards exist) because the catalog does not distinguish between the two “N175” card sizes.