1959-60 A&BC Famous Footballers

Another classic set

1959-60 A&BC Famous Footballers

This set apparently marks the beginning of A&BC’s direct relationship with Topps.

You can see that on the wrapper, apparently. Sadly, the fine print is not legible in this scan:

I unfortunately have not been able to find any high resolution scans of the wrappers, nor have I found any unopened packs. As is the case with other old football sets, it seems that most collectors ignore this one.

Now, if you’re an ignorant American like I am and wonder what in the world “3D” and “1D” stand for, read up on the old £sd system.

Basically, “d” stood for pence (which is the plural of “penny”). “S” was a shilling, and “£” stood for pounds, as it does today. You had 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound, which meant you had 240 pence to a pound.

At the time these cards were sold, there were also farthings; those continued until December 31, 1960. There were 4 farthings to a pence, or a whopping 960 farthings to a pound.

The days before decimilisation were a math teacher’s dream. Prices would be written something like “19/11 3⁄4,” the equivalent of the modern £0.99 — and somewhat similar to the $0.99 we Americans are familiar with. The 3/4 in that price meant 3 farthings; basically, this product was 1 farthing short of a pound.

I can only imagine how frustratingly complicated this was for visitors to the United Kingdom.

Sadly, the quirkiness of the British system eventually gave way to pressure from the continent on Decimal Day in February 1971. What was once common sense to anybody living in the country now became an odd historic relic of the way things once were.

Anyway, at 1d for 1 card and 3d for 4 cards, these packs were basically dirt cheap. Since it was 240 pence to a pound, a 1d pack cost less than £0.01 — and a 3d pack would have barely been £0.01.

Now, in my opinion these cards are actually quite attractive. They are colorful and feature paintings of the players in action poses.

And, as you can see from the photos, the ones that show up on eBay generally are well used.

The backs consisted of some trivia and a scratch off quiz:

As was the case in 1958-59, the 1959-60 set was limited — this time with 98 cards as opposed to the 92 cards the year before. A&BC create checklist cards for the first time, featuring attractive team photos on one side and the checklist on the reverse — similar to what Upper Deck would eventually do in 1989:

And, as was the case in 1958-59, the 1959-60 cards aer actually pretty cheap:

I still think the day will eventually come when demand for these old and somewhat scarce sets increases. Until then, happy collecting!